The Social Reckoning serves as a timely reminder that we shouldn't trust Meta. While not a straightforward sequel to The Social Network, the film acts as a social media spin on All the President's Men. It chronicles the Wall Street Journal's investigation into Facebook, which culminated in the Pulitzer Prize-winning 2022 series "The Facebook Files." These revelations showed the company knew how badly Instagram affected teen girls' mental health and that its algorithm pushed users toward extremist content.
As Meta pushes further into our lives with its Muse AI assistant and surveillance glasses, and faces a potential $40 billion fine for lying about the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the film underscores why distrust is warranted. The narrative follows Jeff Horowitz (Jeremy Allen White), an investigative reporter with little tech experience, who contacts Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), a Facebook engineer in its Civic Integrity Team. Haugen discovered Facebook radicalized her formerly progressive friend into a white supremacist.
Though a true believer in tech's mission to connect the world, she became disillusioned as that mission drifted toward engagement at any cost. She ultimately delivered the documents behind "The Facebook Files" and testified before a Congressional committee in 2021, warning that choices inside Facebook are disastrous for children, public safety, privacy, and democracy. The film jumps between the start of the WSJ investigation and 2021, depicting an expressionless Mark Zuckerberg (Jeremy Strong) preparing for another Congressional grilling.
In a pivotal scene referenced in "The Facebook Files," he ignores Haugen's team's findings on reducing misinformation because action would hurt user engagement. The climax covers the January 6th Capitol riot and Zuckerberg's reluctant decision to ban Trump's Facebook accounts. Last year, Meta paid Trump $25 million to settle a lawsuit over that ban.
Though it may not match The Social Network's cultural impact, it is a valuable reminder that Meta has gone to extraordinary lengths to prioritize profit over people.
Source: Engadget · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing