Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Meets White House Officials Amid Legal Battle Over Employee Memoir

Meta secured an emergency ruling preventing the promotion of a memoir penned by a former high-level employee.

Meta’s legal battle unfolded as the company continued to make strides in the tech industry.

Source : X

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited the White House on Wednesday for discussions with officials from the Trump administration, according to a source familiar with the matter, reported Reuters. The specifics of the meeting remain undisclosed, but a Meta spokesperson indicated that the discussions aligned with the company’s ongoing engagement on American technology leadership.

“Mark’s continuing the meetings he's been holding with the administration on American technology leadership,” said Meta spokesperson Andy Stone, without directly confirming the White House visit.

Meta Secures Legal Victory Over Former Employee's Memoir

Zuckerberg’s meeting coincided with a significant legal victory for Meta, as the company secured an emergency ruling preventing the promotion of a memoir penned by a former high-level employee.

The book, authored by Sarah Wynn-Williams, makes allegations about the company’s internal practices, including claims of ignored sexual harassment complaints and the quiet development of censorship tools aimed at appeasing China.

Allegations Against Meta and Company Leadership

Wynn-Williams, who worked at Facebook between 2011 and 2017 and had direct interactions with Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg, released the book titled Careless People this week. In her account, she alleges that Meta’s policy chief, Joel Kaplan, made inappropriate remarks she reported as sexual harassment. She also criticises Sandberg’s Lean In philosophy, asserting that it masks unspoken rules about compliance and personal loyalty within the company.

Additionally, Wynn-Williams alleges that Meta developed censorship tools to gain favor with the Chinese Communist Party, a claim she reiterated in a whistleblower complaint filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in April.

Emergency Ruling Blocks Book’s Promotion

In response, Meta filed an emergency motion arguing that the memoir violated a 2017 non-disparagement agreement. An arbitrator ruled in favor of Meta, barring the book’s promotion and distribution while ordering Wynn-Williams to retract previous statements.

"Immediate and irreparable loss will result in the absence of emergency relief," the arbitrator stated in the ruling.

Stone dismissed the book’s claims, stating on Threads that it is "false and defamatory" and alleging that Wynn-Williams "deliberately concealed" her work on the project and avoided standard fact-checking protocols.

Meta's Market Performance and Future Plans

Meta’s legal battle unfolded as the company continued to make strides in the tech industry. Despite fluctuations in major tech stocks this year, Meta has maintained a strong market position. The company has also been reducing its reliance on external suppliers like Nvidia by developing its own AI chips in collaboration with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

With nearly four billion monthly active users across its suite of apps, Meta remains a dominant force in the Interactive Media & Services sector. Investors have taken note, as Meta’s stock closed Wednesday’s session at $619.56, marking a 2.29 per cent increase. The stock gained an additional 0.47 per cent in after-hours trading and has risen 3.39 per cent year-to-date, with a 23.97 per cent gain over the past 12 months, according to Benzinga Pro data.