What The Social Reckoning misses about Meta

Aaron Sorkin, famed writer of The West Wing and Academy Award-winning The Social Network, is notoriously verbose.

He has a reputation for linguistic flairs that some find awkward, and many find deeply compelling.

But in The Social Reckoning , a follow-up to the 2010 tale of Facebook's founding, he is uncharacteristically sparing.

Yes, Sorkin — who wrote and directed the new movie — crams the script with one-liners and existential metaphors, random pop culture references, and cries for change, but it's what he leaves out that viewers should pay attention to.

SEE ALSO: 'The Social Reckoning' review: Aaron Sorkin's indulgences fail this Facebook follow-up What 'The Social Reckoning' omits Through The Wall Street Journal 's Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) and Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), The Social Reckoning recounts the two years of work that made up the publication's explosive 2021 series, The Facebook Files .

The birth of the exposé, a series of insider accounts of Facebook's decision to reroute its algorithm in service of polarizing extremism, is presented in two competing timelines.

In one, Huagen and Horwitz attempt to penetrate the Silicon Valley giant's defenses to learn the true scope of its wrongdoing.

In the other, CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Jeremy Strong) readies himself to testify before Congress — as Jan.

6th insurrectionists storm the Capitol.

So it's strange that it's characters — real-life journalists, brave whistleblowers, and profit-driven tech overlords who had a direct role in the current administration's success — don't say the name "Trump." Despite a third of the movie set in 2020, COVID-19 is largely referred to as "the novel virus." The movie skirts the rampant medical misinformation , spread by conservative conspiracy groups, that flourished on Meta platforms.

The movie also omits the full details of Facebook's startling algorithmic misconduct that surrounded and informed the events of The Social Reckoning .

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Meta IRL In 2018, the tech giant was implicated in a massive data breach that harvested user profiles to target U.S. voters ahead of President Donald Trump's 2016 election victory.

Facebook had already been accused of a host of reported user privacy violations , including conducting an algorithm-based psychological study on unwitting users.