Aaron Sorkin said Facebook has become "completely out of control" and evolved into a dangerous platform with billions of users relying on it for news, in an interview with Esquire. Sorkin is directing The Social Reckoning, a sequel to 2010's The Social Network, due in theaters Oct. 9.
About a third of American adults get their news from Facebook, Sorkin said, noting that this has eroded shared factual agreement. "We're no longer agreeing that the sky is blue and two plus two equals four," he said. While Sorkin emphasized that co-founder Mark Zuckerberg likely intended no harm, he said the platform "got way out of hand."
Sorkin said that in 2018, Facebook faced declining engagement and competition from TikTok, prompting the company to retune its algorithm. "They knew that the things that get reshared the most are rage bait. So they began pumping into the air supply all this stuff intended to make you mad," he said. Sorkin added that a line could be drawn from that practice to the January 6 Capitol riot, which he has previously blamed on Facebook.
The film centers on Frances Haugen, a Facebook engineer, teaming with a Wall Street Journal reporter to expose the social network's practices. Jeremy Strong plays Zuckerberg in the sequel.
