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We’re taking a deep dive into where "The Social Reckoning" sticks the landing and where it takes a few creative liberties. Join us as we break down the film’s biggest moments, from Frances Haugen’s reluctance to blow the whistle and her connection to Jeff Horwitz, to Zuckerberg’s January 6 response, the algorithm’s role in extremism, and more.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at what the social reckoning got factually right and wrong.
00:06Spoilers will follow.
00:08Enough!
00:10Number 10. Francis Haugen was hesitant to be a whistleblower.
00:14Right.
00:14Mikey Madison portrays former Facebook employee Francis Haugen as a social introvert who's compelled to speak up,
00:21yet reluctant to go on the record.
00:22While she gradually leaks information to Jeremy Allen White's Jeff Horwitz,
00:26Haugen fears the repercussions of going full whistleblower.
00:30I don't want to be made an example of by a guy with unlimited resources.
00:34The real Haugen had similar reservations.
00:36At some point in 2021, I realized, okay, I'm going to have to do this in a systemic way,
00:42and I have to get out enough that no one can question that this is real.
00:46Horwitz recounted in a Reuters interview, quote,
00:49Francis recognized that providing information to me or anyone outside of the company
00:53risked compromising her anonymity and her ability to find a new job in the future.
00:58She really did not want that.
01:00Over time, Haugen became increasingly discouraged by Facebook's management.
01:04As the Wall Street Journal began publishing,
01:06Haugen figured the leaks would eventually be traced back to her anyway,
01:09seeking help from whistleblower aid.
01:12Facebook over and over again has shown it chooses profit over safety.
01:15It is subsidizing, it is paying for its profits with our safety.
01:19Number 9.
01:20Francis Haugen was Jeff Horwitz's only source.
01:23Wrong.
01:24The social reckoning mainly centers on Horwitz's dynamic with Haugen,
01:28culminating in the Wall Street Journal publishing the Facebook files.
01:31This is a material violation of my MDA.
01:34While Haugen was the most prominent figure behind these leaks,
01:37Horwitz has stated that he, quote,
01:39found other sources who helped with that work.
01:41Some of their identities remain anonymous,
01:44but former Meta employee Arturo Bejar has emerged as another whistleblower.
01:48As a parent, I took the work personally,
01:51and I work hard to help create a safer environment.
01:55Bejar was the subject of Horwitz's 2023 Wall Street Journal piece.
01:59His job was to make Instagram safe for teens.
02:01His 14-year-old showed him what the app was really like.
02:05Like Haugen, Bejar testified before Congress,
02:08claiming that Meta ignored warnings of negative side effects.
02:11Bejar stated that he was, quote,
02:12quote, grateful to Horwitz, quote,
02:14for his in-depth account.
02:15However, Bejar is confident he, quote,
02:18won't work again.
02:20After my experience and what has happened afterwards,
02:22I don't think we can trust Instagram or those services with our teens
02:27if they're not willing to give them the tools that help them when they need it.
02:30You cannot trust everything you read on Facebook,
02:32but WatchMojo's 24-7 live stream is a reliable news source.
02:36Scan the QR code on screen to join us live
02:38for informative videos that actually have fact-checkers.
02:41He has a source?
02:43Number 8.
02:44The Kerosene and Matches Quote.
02:46Wrong.
02:47Nobody writes dialogue like Aaron Sorkin.
02:49That said, few people in real life talk like the characters in Sorkin's work.
02:53Why haven't you printed it?
02:54Because you didn't give me a story, you told me a story.
02:56Well, you're useless.
02:57That's not the first time I've heard that.
02:59Mikey Madison delivers a standout line in The Social Reckoning
03:02when she claims that Facebook is, quote,
03:04playing with kerosene and matches.
03:06This quote later pops up in Horwitz's articles,
03:08which one of Haugen's colleagues recognizes.
03:10Rather than turn Haugen in,
03:12her colleague hands over a thumb drive with crucial information.
03:15I want the internal documents.
03:17I want proof.
03:18However, the Kerosene and Matches quote doesn't come up in Horwitz's 2021 article,
03:23Facebook knew calls for violence-plagued groups,
03:26now plans overhaul.
03:27Or in the subsequent Facebook Files series.
03:30There's no record of Haugen saying this either,
03:33suggesting that one of the film's most impactful lines was Sorkin's invention.
03:36I'm a free speech absolutist.
03:38I'm not the one who's lying.
03:40And I'm not stopping them from seeing someone who is.
03:43Number 7.
03:44Frances Haugen's health condition.
03:46Right.
03:46Throughout the film,
03:47Haugen regularly wears gloves and leg warmers.
03:50You can't use my name and this is all off the record.
03:53Horwitz initially thinks this is just a fashion choice.
03:56We expect many in the audience will make that assumption too.
03:59Haugen explains though that she has a neurological condition,
04:02making her body sensitive to colder temperatures.
04:05In 2011, Haugen was indeed diagnosed with celiac disease,
04:09having to be hospitalized three years later.
04:12I did not get diagnosed until I was in my mid-twenties.
04:14And it meant that at my first low point,
04:17my ankles were so weak because I was malnourished.
04:20While meeting with Horwitz,
04:22Haugen often wore heavier clothing,
04:23even when the weather was mild.
04:25She eventually sought a warmer climate in Puerto Rico.
04:28As Haugen mentions in The Social Reckoning,
04:31celiac disease has also affected her diet,
04:33hence why she can't eat gluten.
04:35One omitted detail is that Haugen was diagnosed
04:38while getting divorced.
04:39The film never mentions she was married.
04:42The thing that I think people forget
04:43is that we have amazing strength within us.
04:46Number 6.
04:47Bill Burr's character.
04:48Wrong.
04:49Bill Burr demonstrates why he is severely underappreciated
04:53as a dramatic actor as Charlie,
04:55a former friend of Mark Zuckerberg.
04:57The fire hose of bad information
04:59you are injecting into the air supply
05:01is becoming jet-powered.
05:02The two are reunited when Zuckerberg
05:04is being prepared to address Congress,
05:05and Charlie is called upon to test him
05:08with hard-hitting questions.
05:09These guys are counting on the next round
05:11of congressional testimony to make you likable, Mark.
05:13I'm happy to lend a hand, but I think you're doomed.
05:16Charlie isn't a real person,
05:18although he was originally based
05:20on an early Facebook investor, Roger McNamee.
05:22According to Burr,
05:23the name was changed to avoid a lawsuit.
05:26I play this guy, Charlie.
05:27I forget his last name.
05:30There are a few parallels between Charlie and McNamee,
05:33who advised Zuckerberg not to sell to Yahoo
05:36and ultimately had a falling out with the Facebook founder.
05:38Then right at the beginning
05:40of the presidential election campaign in 2016,
05:42I see things going wrong,
05:44and it makes me very concerned.
05:46However, McNamee claims he hasn't interacted
05:48with Zuckerberg since October 2016,
05:51meaning he likely wasn't with him
05:53when the U.S. Capitol was stormed on January 6th, 2021.
05:58Number five, the algorithmic connection
06:00to extremist groups.
06:01Right.
06:02Horowitz's investigation gains momentum
06:04when Haugen drops a shocking statistic.
06:0764% of the people who joined extremist groups on Facebook
06:10were sent there by the algorithm.
06:12Facebook wants you to stay on the site
06:14for as long as possible.
06:15And two years ago, the algorithm was changed.
06:17This stat apparently stemmed from a 2016 internal report,
06:21which Horowitz quoted in multiple articles.
06:24According to Horowitz,
06:25the higher-ups were all well aware of the issue.
06:28A 2016 presentation even reportedly ended saying,
06:31our recommendation systems grow the problem.
06:34Leadership has since claimed
06:35that they've taken steps to,
06:37turn down the temperature, as Zuckerberg put it,
06:40suspending recommendations for political groups.
06:42We didn't take a broad enough view
06:44of our responsibility,
06:46and that was a big mistake.
06:48Jessica J. Gonzalez of Changed the Terms
06:50believes these changes are the equivalent of,
06:52quote,
06:53putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound.
06:55Facebook's own research has also suggested
06:57that there's a link between algorithmic recommendations
07:00and real-world violence.
07:01When they got rid of civic integrity,
07:04it was the moment where I was like,
07:06I don't trust that they're willing to actually invest
07:10what needs to be invested to keep Facebook
07:12from being dangerous.
07:14Number four.
07:15When Frances Haugen moved to Puerto Rico.
07:17Wrong.
07:18In the film,
07:19Haugen relocates to Puerto Rico in 2020
07:22just as the COVID-19 pandemic is about to hit the fan.
07:25With each new file she opens,
07:26she's creating a footprint.
07:27Haugen explains that Facebook
07:29is letting her work there remotely,
07:31although she's soon required to return.
07:33As mentioned before,
07:35Haugen was drawn to Puerto Rico
07:36due to its warmer temperatures.
07:38Horowitz even met up with her there
07:39amid his investigation
07:40as depicted in The Social Reckoning.
07:43Sorkin plays with the timeline, though.
07:45Haugen didn't move to Puerto Rico
07:46during the pandemic's early days,
07:48but rather in spring 2021.
07:50By then,
07:51she had decided to leave Facebook,
07:53officially departing from the company
07:55shortly after her move.
07:56The path forward is about transparency and governance.
07:59It is about us as a society
08:01collaborating to figure out
08:02how to solve problems together and not alone.
08:04The movie paints Puerto Rico
08:06as a getaway for Haugen,
08:07when in reality,
08:08she's taken up permanent residence there.
08:11Number 3.
08:11Francis Haugen met Mark Zuckerberg.
08:14Wrong.
08:15At one point,
08:16Francis Haugen and several others
08:17are called into a meeting with Mark Zuckerberg.
08:19The presenter lays out
08:21how Facebook can resolve some of its issues,
08:23which will only cost 1% of user engagement.
08:26Zuckerberg shoots down the idea,
08:28arguing that 1% is more than 30 million people.
08:31People around here understand
08:33that when I say no,
08:34that's the end of the debate.
08:36Although Mikey Madison and Jeremy Strong
08:38don't exchange any dialogue,
08:40this is their only scene together.
08:42Apparently,
08:43that is one more interaction
08:44than the real Haugen and Zuckerberg ever had.
08:47In 2021,
08:48Haugen stated that she never met Zuckerberg.
08:50I don't know what the girl thinks she's doing.
08:52If she did,
08:54Haugen would like to tell him,
08:55quote,
09:04In the end,
09:06the buck stops with Mark.
09:07There's no one currently holding Mark accountable
09:09but himself.
09:10Number 2.
09:11Facebook's delayed response to January 6th.
09:14Right.
09:15Zuckerberg's scenes are perhaps
09:16the most heavily dramatized,
09:18right down to him learning about
09:19the January 6th attack
09:21while rehearsing for a hearing.
09:22Start with a gentle nod to show engagement.
09:25Yeah,
09:26not so much,
09:27a little softer.
09:29Yeah.
09:29For all the liberties taken,
09:31Zuckerberg was directly involved
09:33as Facebook contemplated
09:35how to react
09:35when the Capitol was stormed.
09:37The company's policy team
09:38and data scientists
09:39prepared to take action
09:40that would temporarily ban
09:42President Donald Trump
09:43from the platform.
09:44Facebook didn't immediately
09:45bar the sitting president.
09:46Although,
09:47as fears grew
09:48that his comments
09:48would incite further violence,
09:50they could no longer ignore it.
09:52Insiders have indicated
09:53that the decision
09:54largely came down to Zuckerberg.
09:55who felt a line
09:56had been crossed.
09:57The attack on the Capitol
09:59was an outrage.
10:00And I want to express
10:01my sympathy
10:02to all of the members,
10:03staff,
10:04and Capitol workers
10:05who had to live through
10:06this disgraceful moment
10:07in our history.
10:08Yet Zuckerberg
10:09apparently didn't make the call
10:10until after conversing
10:12with several other key figures
10:13at the company.
10:14Now,
10:14I know that technology
10:15can help bring people together.
10:17We see it every day
10:18on our platforms.
10:20Facebook is successful
10:21because people have
10:22a deep desire
10:22to connect and share,
10:24not to stand apart
10:25and fight.
10:26Number 1.
10:27The identity
10:27of Frances Haugen's friend.
10:29Wrong.
10:30In the film's opening,
10:31a Karen who has spent
10:32too much time on Facebook
10:34clashes with the police.
10:35It's revealed
10:36that this woman
10:37was once a friend of Haugen,
10:38who was radicalized
10:39on Facebook.
10:40I wanted to find out
10:41who radicalized my friend.
10:43And?
10:44We did.
10:45There is some truth to this.
10:47Haugen did lose
10:48a close friend
10:49who became lost
10:50in online forums
10:50littered with conspiracy theories
10:52and hate speech.
10:53Yet this was actually
10:54why Haugen wanted
10:55to work for Facebook,
10:56believing she could
10:57prevent misinformation
10:58from spreading.
10:59I never wanted anyone
11:00to feel the pain
11:00that I had felt.
11:01The film also omits
11:03that the friend
11:03helped Haugen
11:04through her health crisis
11:05before their falling out.
11:06What's more,
11:07Haugen has identified
11:08her former friend
11:09as male.
11:10Much about the friend
11:11remains unknown,
11:13meaning that Sorkin
11:14likely made up
11:14certain details
11:15like their participation
11:16in the January 6th attack.
11:18Did you know
11:18this was happening?
11:20What did you think
11:21of the social reckoning?
11:22Let us know
11:23in the comments.