Legal action forces Facebook whistleblower to sit in silence at Hay festival

法律诉讼迫使Facebook吹哨人在海伊文学节上被迫噤声

Tim Wu and Sarah Wynn-Williams on stage at Hay. Wu condemned the restrictions on Wynn-Williams’ participation. Photograph: Sam Hardwick. 蒂姆·吴（Tim Wu）与莎拉·韦恩-威廉姆斯（Sarah Wynn-Williams）在海伊文学节（Hay festival）的舞台上。吴谴责了针对韦恩-威廉姆斯参与活动的限制。摄影：Sam Hardwick。

Meta legal action forces Facebook whistleblower to sit in silence at Hay festival. Sarah Wynn-Williams did not speak during event after lawyers warned of possible sanctions from tech firm. Meta的法律诉讼迫使Facebook吹哨人在海伊文学节上被迫噤声。在律师警告可能面临这家科技公司的制裁后，莎拉·韦恩-威廉姆斯在活动期间未发一言。

Facebook whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams was forced to sit in silence on stage at an event at Hay festival, after lawyers advised her not to speak because of ongoing legal action brought by Meta. Facebook吹哨人莎拉·韦恩-威廉姆斯在海伊文学节的一场活动中被迫坐在台上保持沉默，此前她的律师建议她不要发言，原因是Meta公司目前正对她采取法律行动。

Wynn-Williams, whose bestselling memoir, Careless People, details her years working at Facebook, was due to appear in conversation with the investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr and academic Tim Wu. 韦恩-威廉姆斯的畅销回忆录《粗心的人》（Careless People）详细记录了她在Facebook工作的岁月。她原定与调查记者卡罗尔·卡德瓦拉德（Carole Cadwalladr）及学者蒂姆·吴进行对话。

Instead, Wynn-Williams sat on stage for the duration of the hour-long discussion between Cadwalladr and Wu, without speaking or responding. She was unable even to nod or shake her head. 然而，在卡德瓦拉德与吴长达一小时的讨论中，韦恩-威廉姆斯始终坐在台上，没有说话或做出任何回应。她甚至无法点头或摇头。

Introducing the panel, Cadwalladr said: “I think this might be a Hay first, in which we have an author in a hostage situation. Blink once if you can hear us, Sarah, twice if [Mark] Zuckerberg is an asshole.” 在介绍嘉宾时，卡德瓦拉德说道：“我想这可能是海伊文学节的第一次，我们有一位处于‘人质状态’的作者。莎拉，如果你能听到我们说话就眨一次眼，如果[马克]·扎克伯格是个混蛋就眨两次。”

At the end of the event, Wynn-Williams received a standing ovation from the audience, during which she was moved to tears. 活动结束时，韦恩-威廉姆斯赢得了全场观众的起立鼓掌，她为此感动落泪。

Describing the situation, Cadwalladr said: “I think we can say that Facebook is triggered.” 卡德瓦拉德在描述这一情况时说：“我想我们可以说，Facebook被激怒了。”

Wynn-Williams, a former Facebook executive, has faced mounting legal restrictions since the publication last year of Careless People, which contains allegations about Meta’s internal culture and decision-making, including claims relating to political influence, the company’s approach to China and concerns about the wellbeing of its child users. Meta has disputed the book’s claims. 作为Facebook的前高管，韦恩-威廉姆斯自去年出版《粗心的人》以来，面临着越来越多的法律限制。该书包含了关于Meta内部文化和决策的指控，包括涉及政治影响力、公司对华策略以及对未成年用户福祉的担忧。Meta对书中的指控予以否认。

Hay’s programme director Helen Bagnall told the audience that the moment was “an important act of solidarity for the silenced”. 海伊文学节的项目总监海伦·巴格纳尔（Helen Bagnall）告诉观众，这一时刻是“对被噤声者的一次重要声援”。

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, secured an emergency legal order on the eve of publication preventing her from publicly discussing aspects of the book, and she faces fines of $50,000 (£37,000) each time she breaches the order. The financial and legal pressure has reportedly threatened her with bankruptcy. 拥有Facebook和Instagram的Meta公司在书出版前夕获得了一项紧急法律禁令，禁止她公开讨论书中的相关内容。她每次违反该禁令都将面临5万美元（约合3.7万英镑）的罚款。据报道，这种经济和法律压力已使她面临破产威胁。

Cadwalladr described the spectacle as “trolling-like behaviour” by Meta. “This is not how you conduct crisis comms. Crisis comms would just be simply to ignore this and deprive it of oxygen. This is a kind of trolling-like behaviour against their enemies.” 卡德瓦拉德将这一场面描述为Meta的“网络喷子式行为”。“这不是处理危机公关的方式。危机公关本应是简单地无视它，切断其传播渠道。这是一种针对敌人的喷子式行为。”

Speaking on stage, Wu condemned the restrictions on Wynn-Williams’ participation. 蒂姆·吴在台上发言时，谴责了针对韦恩-威廉姆斯参与活动的限制。

“This is censorship,” he told the audience. “This is a demonstration that some of the worst abuses in our time are not confined to kings, emperors, governments … but to a class of companies that have assumed the sovereign affect, and seek to assert their power the same way that some of those despotic nation states do.” “这是审查制度，”他告诉观众。“这证明了我们这个时代一些最严重的滥权行为，并不局限于国王、皇帝或政府……而是存在于一类公司中，它们表现得如同主权国家，并试图以某些专制国家对待民众的方式来行使权力。”

During the event, Cadwalladr read a letter from Wynn-Williams’ lawyers outlining the company’s latest legal claims. The letter stated that, in March 2026, Meta filed a sanctions motion alleging that Wynn-Williams violates the emergency arbitration order “any time she appears in public in a place where she should know that her book is available for sale and her presence might draw attention to it”. 活动期间，卡德瓦拉德宣读了韦恩-威廉姆斯律师的一封信，概述了该公司最新的法律主张。信中指出，2026年3月，Meta提交了一项制裁动议，声称韦恩-威廉姆斯“只要出现在公众场合，且该场合她理应知道其书籍正在销售，且她的出现可能会引起关注”，即违反了紧急仲裁令。

According to the letter, Meta’s motion specifically cited her appearance at the Hay festival as “an example of conduct that should be formally sanctioned”. 根据这封信，Meta的动议特别将她出席海伊文学节的行为列为“应受到正式制裁的行为范例”。

It also referred to the identities of her fellow panellists. Meta argued that Cadwalladr was a journalist “primarily known for her negative coverage of Meta”, while Wu was described as “another known critic”. 信中还提到了她同台嘉宾的身份。Meta辩称，卡德瓦拉德是一位“以对Meta进行负面报道而闻名”的记者，而吴则被描述为“另一位知名的批评者”。

Following the letter, Hay festival withdrew Careless People from sale while she was speaking at the festival, so as not to breach Meta’s legal order. 在这封信发出后，海伊文学节在韦恩-威廉姆斯发言期间将《粗心的人》下架，以避免违反Meta的法律禁令。