Aaron Sorkin is revisiting Facebook with his upcoming film, “The Social Reckoning,” 16 years after the Oscar-winning movie “The Social Network” explored the company’s origins. This time, Sorkin is taking a closer look at the social media giant’s impact. Ahead of the film’s release, the director has shared some candid thoughts about Facebook and its influence.
“The Social Reckoning,” the follow-up to 2010’s “The Social Network,” will be released in a couple of months, and writer and director Aaron Sorkin is sharing his thoughts about how Facebook has changed since its inception.
The first movie centered on the founding of Facebook and the lawsuits that followed, while the upcoming film shifts the focus to the platform’s evolution and the consequences of its influence on society.
Sorkin acknowledged Facebook’s growth in terms of its user base and noted how many people now rely on the platform for news.
“About a third of American adults get their news from Facebook. That is very dangerous. We’re no longer agreeing that the sky is blue and two plus two equals four,” Sorkin said in an Esquire interview.
The Director Blamed The Capitol Insurrection On Facebook
Elsewhere in the conversation, Sorkin was asked about a previous comment he made, blaming the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack on the social media network. In a podcast interview in 2024, he blatantly said, “I blame Facebook for January 6,” adding that he would be writing about it.
Sorkin expanded on his previous statement, mentioning Facebook’s 2018 crisis involving Cambridge Analytica, in which millions of private user data were improperly collected. The filmmaker said the social network’s engagement went down following the incident, and they “returned the algorithm.”
“A comment was worth five times as much as a like; an emoji was worth fifteen times as much as a like. A reshare would be worth thirty times a like,” Sorkin explained, adding that the company “knew that the things that get reshared the most are rage bait.”
“They began pumping into the air supply all this stuff intended to make you mad. Certainly, you can draw a line from that to January 6,” he concluded.
Aaron Sorkin Believes The Platform Has Gone ‘Out Of Control’
Sorkin acknowledged Mark Zuckerberg’s brilliance of mind. However, he also noted Facebook has “gone completely out of control.”
Over the years, Facebook has faced multiple controversies. Beyond privacy leaks, the platform has been accused of spreading political misinformation, viral health hoaxes, and hate speech. Moreover, the leaked documents showed that executives knew Facebook harmed the mental health of teen users, yet chose business over safety.
Despite what Facebook has become, Sorkin believes what’s happening now was not part of Zuckerberg’s plan when he created and launched Facebook.
“I don’t think Mark Zuckerberg ever intended for it to have a corrosive effect. I think his intentions were good,” Sorkin said, adding that it just “got way out of hand.”
The Filmmaker On The Challenge Of Writing About Mark Zuckerberg
Sorkin, who won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for his writing on “The Social Network,” said Zuckerberg was not involved in both movies. While he did reach out before filming the first movie, he said the CEO did not cooperate, but they met with “a bunch of his lieutenants.” Despite Zuckerberg’s refusal, Sorkin said he was satisfied with the outcome, as he didn’t want to make a film that was a “Mark Zuckerberg-approved version” anyway.
In June, the filmmaker shared one of the challenges of writing the script for “The Social Reckoning” and mentioned how he approached writing Zuckerberg. In 2019, Sorkin slammed the CEO in an open letter in The New York Times.
Despite Sorkin’s feelings toward him, he said he put his judgments aside while writing “The Social Reckoning.”
“You’ve got to write that character like they’re making their case to God why they should be allowed into heaven,” Sorkin told Vanity Fair.
Inside ‘The Social Reckoning’
“The Social Reckoning” centers on the Facebook whistleblower leaks that came to light in 2021. Former Facebook employee Frances Haugen shared internal documents with Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, which contained evidence suggesting that the company prioritized profits over the safety and well-being of its users.
The movie features Mikey Madison (Frances Haugen), Jeremy Allen White (Jeff Horwitz), and Jeremy Strong (Mark Zuckerberg), alongside Bill Burr, Wunmi Mosaku, and Billy Magnussen.
“The Social Reckoning” is scheduled for release on October 9.
