Careless People

Wynn-Williams suggested that Zuckerberg join the president-elect on a blusukan, or a spontaneous visit to a village or city slum, as that would provide Zuckerberg with an experience of being “gently mobbed.” Zuckerberg’s security team and associates did not want this to happen, fearing violence. They asked Wynn-Williams to call it off, but Zuckerberg decided to do it anyway.

At a shopping mall, Zuckerberg and the president-elect were surrounded by hundreds and basked in the adulation. Schrage was furious and directed his rage toward Wynn-Williams. When it was over, Wynn-Williams feared that Zuckerberg would fire her. Instead, he thought the experience was amazing. With part of the communications team left behind, Schrage instructed the driver to keep going and get them away from the scene.

Since Facebook was not interested in making any investments in South Korea, the president did not see the management team. Samsung did not offer much either. On the plane ride home, there was major turbulence. While the captain urged people to sit down, the top managers ignored him and continued to party.

During her travels with Zuckerberg, Wynn-Williams started to get to know him and got a sense of the enormity of his wealth. When she asked him what mattered to him most, he answered food. He collected sherry from the time when Andrew Jackson was president. Zuckerberg did so because he revered Jackson, whom he described as “ruthless, a populist and individualist” (142). Wynn-Williams notes that Zuckerberg failed to mention Jackson’s poor treatment of Indigenous peoples. After the visit to Indonesia, Zuckerberg, who loved the “wild, politically fueled adoration” (142), became interested in politics.

Zuckerberg sent an email in July 2014 noting his plan to expand Facebook in China without any “acknowledgment at all of the moral complexity of working in an authoritarian country that surveils its own citizens and doesn’t allow free speech” (146). At this time, Google had already pulled out of China because of its censorship.

Ignoring such concerns, Zuckerberg began to learn Mandarin and named Vaughn Smith, from corporate development, to lead the China team. Wynn-Williams considered Smith a poor choice, noting that Smith concentrated on getting a physical place for Facebook in China and forming relationships over golf. Smith was willing to require Chinese users to sign a policy statement that would enable the Chinese government to have access to their data.

Meanwhile, China blocked Facebook’s Instagram after protestors used it in Hong Kong to arrange protests. Smith applauded the rule of law, but Schrage explained in response that the Nuremberg defense of “just following orders” and respecting laws does not justify such crackdowns. Wynn-Williams concludes, “[T]he point at which you have to explain Nuremberg to the head of the team leading your China entry is probably a red flag” (152).

When Levine left to become the chief operating officer of Instagram, Joel Kaplan, Sandberg’s ex-boyfriend, took her place. A Republican operative, Kaplan had little interest in politics outside the US.

Kaplan viewed Facebook as a superpower and hired a political sales team to persuade politicians to advertise on Facebook. That way, such politicians would be dependent on Facebook and therefore unlikely to harm it. However, Facebook was already facing large fines for violating bans on electoral advertising in countries like Brazil. Kaplan was surprised to learn that it is illegal for foreigners to contribute to elections in most places.

Zuckerberg, like Kaplan, was starting to exert Facebook’s power on foreign policy as well. In January 2015, Facebook staff, at the request of Russia’s government, blocked an event page for protests on the day of opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s sentencing on bogus charges. The US State Department told Facebook that it should have let its site be shut down instead of complying, threatening to publicly criticize the company.

Zuckerberg’s interest in politics grew. Facebook had previously, under Levine, created a set of principles and processes for what could and could not be posted. This blockage of the protest page in Russia was the start of Zuckerberg overruling those community standards in favor of “whatever he th[ought] [wa]s right” (162). Almost always, his decisions facilitated Facebook’s economic growth.

Zuckerberg then issued an edict that content would only be taken down at the request of a government if there was a credible threat to block Facebook and/or there was a risk to employees. Wynn-Williams observed that this was an invitation to arrest Facebook employees, expressing shock that there was no discussion of this standard. Facebook had become “an autocracy of one” (164).

President Santos of Colombia agreed to endorse Internet.org with Zuckerberg in January 2015. As they were squeezing this event into the president’s schedule, the event was to be in the morning. Zuckerberg refused to do any events in the morning. After negotiation, the president’s staff consented to 12:15 pm instead.

With Wynn-Williams at a different Marriott from Zuckerberg, the pair arrived separately, and Zuckerberg was late. The president and his staff were furious. The meeting before the press appearance was a disaster, with Zuckerberg unprepared. The president then left Zuckerberg on stage alone and backed out of supporting Internet.org.

With her husband and baby, Wynn-Williams attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2015. It was in a remote location, and there was a scarcity of hotel rooms. The “richest people in the world” attend this Forum and compete in a “status Olympics” (172).

Sandberg and Kaplan learned that regulators were about to target Facebook, as they viewed tech companies as “leeches” that paid no taxes, created no jobs, and made no investments (173). Facebook had its international headquarters in Ireland, where, until a few weeks before this Forum, it paid no taxes. The European Union (EU) had just put an end to that “boondoggle” (173). As a result, Sandberg met with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who had negotiated an additional five years of tax freedom for Facebook. Sandberg would not commit to staying in Ireland after that.

When Kenny then mentioned another possibility for reduced taxation, Sandberg instructed Wynn-Williams to stop taking notes, which could be subpoenaed. The company and prime minister conspired to negotiate a “backroom deal” (176). Kenny also noted that he was attempting to make the Irish government the enforcer of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation Act for Facebook.

At the conclusion of the Forum, Wynn-Williams suggested that Facebook should make some accommodations, such as paying taxes, to show good faith. Her advice was ignored. Sandberg, in an email, recommended that Facebook get policy makers to use the site to communicate and win elections. This shift “w[ould] have far-reaching consequences” (179). Facebook was seeking to make politicians reliant on it for their power.

With Internet.org stalled by April 2015, Wynn-Williams convinced Zuckerberg to attend the Summit of the Americas in Panama. While not on the panel with presidents, Zuckerberg asked what more could be done to promote connectivity and received a positive response. When leaving the session, Zuckerberg’s bodyguards were concerned about the crowd and pushed a group of men aside only to have one say, “But, but, but…I’m the president of Guatemala” (181). This comment became a constant joke among the Facebook staff.

The president of Panama supported Internet.org, while progress had not been made in Mexico. More problematically for Facebook, Brazil had expressed concerns about Internet.org, and the country had comprehensive regulation over social media. The Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, could influence other countries to shun Internet.org.

Due to an impromptu meeting with President Obama, Zuckerberg was late for his meeting with President Rousseff. Zuckerberg was not prepared for her tough questioning, as she wanted infrastructure and investment. She did not commit to anything.