The Social Reckoning (2026) Movie Script

1
[dramatic music plays]
[vehicles passing]
[siren blares]
[chattering on radio]
Looks like you're overheated.
-Say again?
-Your car's overheated.
I called AAA. It's fine.
Probably just needs water.
For insurance reasons,
I can't try to fix your car.
You live nearby?
I called AAA.
You can, you know...
Thank you.
The tow truck's on its way?
Yeah, I just said that.
How many times
can you ask the same question?
Ma'am, are you all right?
I am fine. The tow truck...
You can go. Thank you.
She's Signal 1. I can smell it.
You wanna use the clipboard?
There's no shame in
using the clipboard.
But last time, you indicated
there was quite a bit of shame
in using the clipboard.
Yeah. [chuckles]
So, you want me
to get the clipboard for you?
Ma'am, I'm Deputy Otumbo
of the San Mateo
Sheriff's Department
and this is Deputy Diaz.
And I need to tell you that
this conversation
-is being recorded on video.
-And I care because why?
Do you have any identification?
Not in California.
-I don't understand.
-Not in California.
You don't--
You said you don't have
identification in California?
That's not what I said.
Let's start over.
Do you have any ID?
In California,
you are not required
to present identification
to the police
under
these exact circumstances.
Ma'am, what's your name?
[driver]
Yeah, she knows I'm right.
Kaylee.
Kaylee, I'm detecting
the odor of alcohol,
and combined with
your erratic behavior,
I wanna ask
if you'd be willing to perform
some standardized
field sobriety tests
to alleviate my concern
that you might be
too impaired to drive.
[Diaz]
You need to listen to him.
Would you mind putting away
your phone, please?
Do you see me driving anything?
Why do I need to
take your tests?
You're not driving this moment,
but you drove to this spot
from wherever you were.
My boyfriend was driving.
Where's your boyfriend?
He left.
-When?
-Just a few minutes ago.
Your boyfriend was driving
the car,
you pulled over
because it overheated,
you called AAA, and then
he got out and walked away?
Yes.
And AAA is,
you know, they're...
That's it. Thank you.
[Otumbo]
I need a yes or no answer.
Are you willing to take
some standardized
field sobriety tests?
I wasn't driving.
I am not driving now.
I don't have the keys.
The keys are in the cupholder.
I am not in control of
the vehicle.
The next exit's
seven miles away.
There was no boyfriend.
She knows what she's doing.
I arrest her,
it's gonna get tossed.
Mm-hmm.
All right, Kaylee.
We're gonna let you slide
and stick around
till the tow truck gets here.
You're not letting me slide.
We are.
You're not letting me slide.
You just don't have enough
to do anything about it.
It's your lucky night.
You're not letting me slide.
Fine.
I'm just saying,
you're not letting me slide.
Why are you arguing about this?
I'm just saying,
you're not letting me slide.
I don't know if this is
a "Black-white" thing going on
'cause you guys like to
play that card.
What are you talking about?
-You pull over a white girl.
-We didn't pull you over.
You see a white girl
in distress.
You see a hot white girl.
All this one ever wanted to be
is white. Look at her.
Ma'am, can you do me a favor
and not talk like that
in front of me?
I don't have free speech?
[Diaz] You do. But I'm asking
you not to use it to be--
I am just saying.
You don't know me.
You don't know my background.
It's disrespectful.
First of all,
I wasn't even talking to you.
I don't care,
you're talking to my partner.
This is disrespectful.
This is disrespectful,
and I want to talk to
your supervisor.
I'm his supervisor.
Oh, of course you are. [scoffs]
You know what? I am
getting this all on video.
Our body cams have been on
since the moment
we made contact with you.
There's a dashcam right there.
So, she is getting all in
my face. She's coming at me.
-Kaylee, let's take it easy.
-Why was she
getting in my face like that?
-She wasn't.
-No, why was she
getting in my face like that?
[Otumbo] Take it easy.
-Don't disrespect me!
-She's not.
Why is she
getting in my face like that?
You're all, "You don't know
what I've been through?"
Bitch, you don't know what
the fuck I've been through.
Cops are literally
being assholes to me
because I'm white.
This guy's name is Otumbo,
swear to God,
and this ghetto bitch,
I don't know.
She's Spanish or some shit.
Maybe he's fucking her.
Yeah. Yeah, it's funny how you
stopped talking. It's funny.
You were all in my face
and now you're quiet.
You want to say hi
to the Internet?
Yeah, we got her quiet.
This is what happens
when you're white in America.
You get treated like
a stupid fucking immigrant.
Yeah, this is where we are now.
I'm stopped for
being American in America.
You're stopped
because your car overheated.
You don't let me slide.
You don't let me do shit.
I swear I'm going to
smack the fuck out of a cop.
-Hey, listen... Listen...
-I swear to Christ--
-You can't threaten an LEO.
-[Kaylee] No.
Why was she
getting in my face like that?
It's a felony, Kaylee.
You can't do it.
-I am so fucking mad. I...
-[Otumbo] It's for our safety.
[Diaz] You need to
listen to him.
-I swear...
-[Otumbo] Take it easy.
...I am gonna kill this bitch.
[Otumbo] You're under arrest.
Wait, for what? Wait a minute.
-For what I'm under arrest?
-Public intox
and threatening bodily harm
to a police officer.
[Kaylee] Get off of me!
-[Diaz] And resisting arrest.
-Where's my phone?
-[Otumbo] Get in the car.
-I want my phone.
-Get in the car.
-I want my phone.
[chattering on radio]
[Diaz] Tow truck's here.
[Kaylee on video]
She is getting all in my face.
She's coming at me.
[Otumbo] Kaylee,
let's take it easy.
[Kaylee] No, why was she
getting in my face like that?
[Otumbo] She wasn't.
[Kaylee] Why was she
getting in my face like that?
-[Otumbo] Take it easy.
-[Kaylee] Don't disrespect me!
[Otumbo] She's not.
[Kaylee] Why is she
getting in my face like that?
You're all, "You don't know
what I've been through?"
Bitch, you don't know
what the fuck
I've been through.
Cops are literally
being assholes to me
because I'm white.
This guy's name is Otumbo,
swear to God,
and this ghetto bitch,
I don't know.
She's Spanish or some shit.
Maybe he's fucking her.
Yeah. Yeah, it's funny how you
stopped talking. It's funny.
Jesus.
...and now you're quiet.
You want
to say hi to the Internet?
Jesus Christ.
[tense music playing]
[wheels rattling]
[boss] So, you were late for
this meeting,
and Tom said you were late
because you just flew in
this morning,
rented a car at the airport,
and had trouble
finding the building
as you're not familiar
with the Bay Area?
-Yes.
-So, here's my question.
The rental car didn't have GPS?
It did.
[boss] But you didn't use it?
Yes. No, I didn't.
-Go ahead, just tell her.
-Guys.
I didn't know how to use...
That's what I goddamn thought.
...this particular kind of GPS.
Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze?
-Well, I should really--
-Learn how to use one of them.
I was gonna say, "get a map,"
but sure, your way.
We knew he wasn't
a tech expert, Chris.
He couldn't find
the Wall Street Journal, Andy,
because he couldn't operate
the navigation system
in a Ford Fiesta.
I'm not asking
for Thomas Edison.
Her concern,
if I can interpret,
is that it's Facebook, Jeff.
The beat is covering Facebook.
[boss] It's a tech company.
Sure, absolutely,
but not really.
Do you have an interest
in social media?
[Jeff] Not even a little bit.
Look,
I'm an investigative reporter
covering politics, all right?
And something happened.
Something happened because
that guy and this company
are playing a strange,
outsized, unprecedented role
in our lives.
That's why I'm here.
Something happened, right?
It's not a-- a tech beat,
Christina.
It's a political beat,
and I'm an investigator.
Somebody else can write
about Oculus and connectivity.
I will learn the tech
that I need to learn.
No problem.
Same for not being familiar
with the Bay Area--
Okay, uh, the circumstances
under which you left the AP--
[Christina] How long
do you think it'll take?
-Sorry?
-You said you'll need to
learn the tech.
How long
do you think that will take?
-It's hard to say.
-90 days.
Copy that.
If you want him, you got him.
Thank you.
Uh, by the way, I tried
friending you on Facebook--
No, I'm not on Facebook.
-What the hell, Andy?
-Jeff.
I'll sign up right now.
Do you need someone
to help you?
-I'm good.
-Okay.
[door closes]
You just put in
your destination.
The GPS.
You just type it in.
[Jeff] There's not
a lot of people out there.
Yeah, you and me,
we got in the game
for the last two minutes
of print journalism.
[tense music plays]
Say your goodbyes.
No.
[tense music continues]
[speaker] Journalists are
megalomania dressed up
as righteousness.
They seek to exploit the,
let's call it credulousness
often found in
genuinely good people,
using their
considerable talents
to make the world
a better place.
We're getting reports...
If you could believe this,
we're getting reports
of journalists
posing as Facebook employees
waiting at our bus stops.
[audience, Teddy chuckle]
But I have a better one.
Reporters are going on Tinder
and...
-[audience laughs]
-Yeah.
They're pretending to...
They're...
They're trying to date us.
They want to hook up.
My team knows about these
things because you report them
and you need to
keep doing that.
The way we're able to be
completely transparent
internally
is by trusting
that we're all, all,
completely confidential
externally.
Which brings me to my last item
before we get to questions.
This fella, Jeff Horwitz.
This is The Journal's
new Facebook detective.
We maintain excellent relations
with the tech press
and that's reflected
in the coverage
we get from the Valley.
But Jeff's coming to us from DC
where he covered politics.
He's an investigative reporter.
So he's not--
he's not looking for trouble.
He's hunting for it.
He doesn't find trouble,
he doesn't eat.
So let us know if he
or anyone else
starts showing up at bus stops
or in your DMs.
All right,
questions for anyone on stage?
My name is Frances Haugen.
I've been on
the Civic Integrity Team...
-Uh, hold on.
-...for five--
-[moderator whispering]
-[Teddy] Oh.
-Okay. Janice, uh...
-Frances.
Uh, sorry, Frances.
I'm being told
I cut into question time.
You'll be first
at the next team town hall.
That's in three months--
Give yourselves a round.
Let's get back to work.
[upbeat pop music playing]
[employees
chattering indistinctly]
[Frances sighs]
I knew as soon as
you weren't able
to ask your question
at the town hall
that I was next.
How can I help you?
Seriously?
I've spent the last 41 hours
running classifiers
on political groups.
-Groups with a capital G.
-Got it.
-Facebook groups.
-I understand.
I've defined
the parameters rigorously.
Groups where 30% of content
hits multiple risk vectors.
Demonstrably false narratives,
inflammatory partisan content--
Can I ask-- Sorry.
How many index cards are there?
-Six.
-Six?
Yeah.
Both sides.
I, uh, ran a classifier
on 252 political groups of--
I wanna ask you a question.
I'm supposed to be working on
third-party fact-checker
integration
and, for that matter,
so are you.
Let's set that aside
for a moment.
Bearing in mind
that I'm pretty far behind,
I have a performance review
in four days
and a quarter
of a million dollars
in student loan debt,
how important
is this presentation
you're giving me right now?
I think there's
an argument to be made
that it's very important.
Okay. Could you make
that argument to someone else?
You're closest to me.
We hardly know each other.
-No, you meant geographically.
-You sit right across from me.
Yeah, I have to draw a line.
[exhales]
-You got it right there.
-Okay.
-Great.
-Cool.
Okay.
Hello.
Can I talk to you one moment?
Sure.
Have you tried
that dating site?
You're here to thank me?
Shit.
I've been running classifiers
on political groups--
Not what you're supposed
to be doing.
Groups where 30% of content
hits multiple risk vectors--
Stop. Just stop.
I'm gonna lower my voice
because I wanna
give you some advice.
You're getting a reputation
as a Cassandra.
-You know who Cassandra was?
-Yes.
She cried wolf
one too many times.
That's not who Cassandra was.
That's the boy who cried wolf.
Whatever. The sky
is always falling down.
That's Chicken Little.
Cassandra was a priestess
in Greek mythology.
Apollo was in love with her,
so he gave her the power
to see the future,
but when his love
was unrequited,
he added a curse
that no one would believe her.
It's the exact opposite
of the boy who cried wolf.
Civic Integrity is
in the middle of a sprint,
and I can't have you stopping
to do your own thing
for a couple of days.
Whatever this is,
bring it up
in the next team meeting.
Okay, uh, there--
And whatever it is,
do not put it in writing.
Yeah.
And check out that dating site.
I think you'd benefit
from loosening up.
Fuck.
[sighs]
[sighs]
[mysterious music plays]
[keyboard clacking]
[sighs]
[drawer opens]
[mysterious music continues]
[Jeff]
Evelyn and Zach, work faster.
I could work faster,
if I didn't have to
keep making notes for HR
about emotional abuse.
Everyone likes
a wise-cracking intern,
don't ever forget that.
-Finished.
-[Jeff] What'd you get?
388 to 12.
You.
Hang on, I'm counting.
[Jeff] Counting can be hard.
-Dear Harassment Diary...
-Finish.
-388 to 12.
-Me too.
I'm on my way home.
MZ gave a speech
at Georgetown recently,
which was broadcast
on Facebook.
It received close to
45,000 comments,
400 of which
were posted in real time.
Of those comments,
how many were positive, Zach?
-And how many
-were negative, Evelyn?
-Twelve.
Right, and one commenter wrote,
"Thank you for creating
the best social platform ever.
Love you." With seven U's.
You think they've got bots
creating their own comments?
Well, another one says,
"I love big boy,
very smart Mark."
All in caps.
So, yes, but that's not
what I am talking about.
Only 12 negative comments
out of 400.
They're censoring comments.
You know what the topic
of the speech was?
Tell me it was free speech.
Swear to God.
So, I'm going to teach Zach
and the girl intern
how to develop a source.
Sir, Jeff is magnificent
at developing sources.
-Play him the call.
-No.
Jeff was developing
a source earlier,
and it's recorded on his phone.
Play it.
[clears throat]
Hi, Stuart.
This is Jeff Horwitz
from The Wall Street Journal.
[Stuart]
Are you fucking stupid?
Don't ever fucking call me
again, you stupid fucking--
We have much to learn from him.
That was just your first call.
[Jeff] That was my 26th call,
and I am out of numbers.
So, here's what
I'm going to do.
I'm going to target one team.
That's
the Civic Integrity Team,
and they have a credo.
"Be selfless, protective, fair,
representative, constructive
and conscious."
Don't they mean
"conscientious"?
[Jeff] I don't know
what they mean,
but these people are trying
to do some good, right?
They're not supposed to
care about growth.
I mean, of course
they should be conscious.
And another member of the team
quit Facebook
and told Time Magazine,
"You write code that
does exactly
what it's supposed to do,
and then you have to
argue with execs
who don't wanna
think about integrity,
and they shut you down."
-They're discontent.
-[Jeff] It's a place to start.
I'm gonna do a dive
on each of the team members,
and then I'm going to
write personalized messages
for each of them on LinkedIn.
All right.
But send these two home.
They have
a full class schedule.
Well, they're learning
a lot here.
Yeah. "Be conscious."
Should there be
signs around here
that say, "Breathe air.
That's good for you"?
You're gonna write a letter to
every member of
the Civic Integrity Team?
Personalized.
Aren't there hundreds of
people on that team?
Yeah, it'll take a few days,
and evenings.
But I think you're both
really gonna excel at this.
I'm excited for you.
I'm changing my major.
Good call.
[date] This is your, uh,
first time using the site?
I've been using it a while now.
I'm a sucker for exclusivity.
Maybe that's like, um...
I don't know, but why not?
You know, people wanna date
within their own, um...
vector? Is that the right word?
Anyway, my thing is, people
assume I'm a finance bro
because I pledged a frat
and I play golf.
-Is that right?
-Phi Psi!
And a 12 handicap.
And I'm in finance.
Well... Okay,
I guess you can't really
blame people for assuming.
BJ! Dude! I know that guy.
-He's excellent.
-[BJ] Doug!
I checked it out.
You were right!
[Doug] I told you! I told him.
Chlorophyll's
an internal deodorant.
It-- It's what?
It's an internal deodorant.
If you drink chlorophyll water
every day,
your sweat smells like flowers.
True story.
That's not
what chlorophyll does.
-Yeah, I read it.
-Where?
-It's all over Facebook.
-Kill me.
What?
-Totally. [chuckles]
-[Doug chuckles]
[pensive music plays]
[notification alert chimes]
["Life Upon the Wicked Stage"
playing]
Life upon the wicked stage
Ain't nothin' for a girl
Though I've listened
To you moan and grieve
You must pardon me
If I do not believe you
There is no doubt
You're crazy about
Your awful stage
Evie. Evie! Come hang out.
I've gotta get a couple hours
of sleep. I just have to.
[roommate] You're a loser.
I knew that before you told me.
[phone ringing]
Seriously?
[groans]
Yes? What?
I tried calling Zach first.
It went to voicemail.
[Evelyn]
He sent you to voicemail.
You guys are
getting class credit for this.
In lieu of a salary.
[Jeff] You know what
a Proton message is?
[Evelyn]
It's an encrypted message.
H-How am I supposed to read it?
It's not encrypted for you.
It's encrypted
for everyone else.
Just follow the instructions
on the screen.
Wait, hang on.
What is that?
In the background?
- Show Boat . You know it?
-No.
Well, it's the grandaddy
of American musical theater.
"Ol' Man, River,"
"Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man."
He's just my Bill
An ordinary--
Oh, I'm gonna punch your head.
There's no doubt in my mind.
Are you there?
Yeah. We got one.
[phone ringing]
-[phone ringing]
-[Mike] Hey, man.
Mike, can you read me
three headlines
that are gonna be
on the front page tomorrow?
Any three, but word for word.
Hang on.
Thank you.
[notification alert chimes]
Jeff Horwitz.
I'm Frances Haugen.
This is a nice spot.
Is there a reason you chose it?
I can see anyone
coming up the hiking trail
before they see me.
I don't hike that much.
In fact, it's my first time.
I don't get it,
but I guess I can see what--
With every minute I spend
sitting next to you,
I maximize the chance I'll be
seen by someone I work with.
So, if it's all right
with you...
Sure.
You can't use my name,
and this is all off the record.
Okay.
-The Georgetown speech.
-Yeah?
Of the first 400 comments,
388 were positive.
Is Facebook
scrubbing the comments?
Who cares?
-Hmm?
-Who cares?
Well, the speech
was about free speech.
Oh! Got 'em.
Okay.
The 12 negative comments,
did they have words like,
"Thanks" and "Great"?
Yes. Yes, they did.
They're running
an emotion analysis program
that can't detect sarcasm yet.
"They"?
We.
All right,
you sent me a message.
What would you
like to talk about?
Watch a little of this.
Okay.
[Kaylee] Cops are literally
being assholes to me
because I'm white.
This guy's name is Otumbo,
swear to God,
and this ghetto bitch,
I don't know.
She's Spanish or some shit.
Maybe he's fucking her.
Yeah. Yeah, it's funny
how you stopped talking.
It's funny.
You were all in my face
and now you're quiet.
You know,
the thing about this is,
she's the one who posted it.
You know,
it's an alt-right group,
and she thinks she looks good.
I made a friend
in my spinning class
about four years ago.
She volunteered for a lot of
progressive causes
and for a progressive
candidate for president.
She was angry when
he didn't get the nomination.
She thought the DNC had rigged
the process against him.
-Yeah?
-That's her.
Oh. This is your friend that
volunteered for
progressive causes?
And four years later,
she's... that.
So, I wanted to find out
who radicalized her.
And?
We did.
She became
what we call a "hyper user."
In the last two years,
she averaged nine hours
and 22 minutes a day
on the site.
But she's not an anomaly.
Uh-huh.
Listen, before I go on,
I wanna make something clear.
Okay.
I have a hunch
you're not a fan of Facebook.
But I am.
Not just Facebook blue,
but Instagram, WhatsApp,
the whole company. I...
I believe in our mission.
-You and I aren't allies.
-Okay.
I'm here to help Facebook,
not hurt it.
Clear?
Yeah.
I've been dragging these
around for weeks.
I-I can't
get anyone's attention.
I ran classifiers
on political groups.
I defined
the parameters rigorously.
Groups where 30% of content
hits multiple risk vectors...
Hang on, I don't understand
what you're saying.
What didn't you understand?
All of it. Classifiers,
parameters, risk vectors.
Aren't you a tech reporter?
-Ish.
-"Ish"?
Don't worry about it. Just get
to the bottom line, all right?
-You did these things.
-[scoffs]
Yeah. Yeah,
I did "these things."
And?
64% of people who join
extremist groups on Facebook
were sent there
by our algorithm.
That can't be right.
It is.
64%...
Yeah.
...of people who joined
extremist groups on Facebook,
were sent there by your
recommendations system?
Yes.
[Otumbo]
You can't threaten an LEO.
[Kaylee] No. Why was she
getting in my face like that?
[Otumbo] It's a felony,
Kaylee. You can't do it.
-[Kaylee] I am so fucking mad.
-[Otumbo] It's for our safety--
[Diaz]
You need to listen to him.
-[Kaylee] I swear...
-[Otumbo] Take it easy.
[Kaylee]
...I'm gonna kill this bitch.
[Otumbo] You're under arrest.
I need you to teach me
what's on those cards.
[specialist] The chairman
gavels the session to order.
He'll make an opening statement
and review the rules
of the game.
Seven minutes for the majority,
seven minutes for the minority,
back and forth
for what committee counsel
anticipates being around
ten hours.
You'll be sworn in.
[executive]
Do you swear or affirm
that the testimony you give
to this committee today
will be the truth,
the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth?
[Mark] Mm-hmm.
[executive]
Please spell your name
and state your current
occupation for the record.
[Mark]
M-A-R-K Z-U-C-K-E-R-B-E-R-G.
[executive]
And your occupation?
I'm a professional defendant.
[specialist] As a reminder,
you are not a defendant.
You're a witness.
This isn't a trial.
It's a hearing.
And this hearing is a globally
broadcast television show,
and that's why
you're paying me.
I understand all of the things
that this isn't and is,
as well as why I'm paying you.
Good. You read your statement,
which we'll skip past for now.
That's a separate session.
And we'll move to
witness questioning. Uh...
Blair,
is that the tie we chose?
-They're bringing in
more options.
-Ed.
Mr. Zuckerberg, Section 230
of the Communications
Decency Act,
the CDA,
exempts internet service
providers from libel laws
that govern publishers
of books and newspapers.
Should Section 230 be repealed?
That's not how
he's gonna ask the question.
-We know, but--
-If they've got seven minutes,
there's gonna be six minutes,
30 seconds of preamble.
[specialist]
Should 230 be repealed?
-No.
-[specialist] "Senator."
-No, Senator.
-[specialist] Why not?
It would end the Internet.
Is that something
your constituents
are interested in doing?
[audience member]
Oh, Jesus Christ.
-I don't think you do.
-[specialist] Charlie.
What?
[Charlie] I don't think you do.
Who is that?
Charlie Garrigan.
I don't think you do know
why you're paying her.
-Hang on.
-Charlie Garrigan's here?
-I wanted him here.
-What the--
He won't hold back.
Hold back?
He wrote a fucking...
Heya, Charlie.
-...editorial about--
-Listen to me.
A batter steps up to the plate.
He taps a donut off the bat.
You jog with weights.
He's tough on you? Good.
He gets under your skin, he--
He wrote an op-ed
in The New York--
I don't care.
Do you?
Fine.
So, back to work.
It was a long fucking op-ed.
All right. Section 230.
Let's hear it. Our answer.
Senator, from our perspective,
Section 230
does two basic things.
First, it encourages
free expression,
which is
fundamentally important.
Without it--
[door opens]
Without 230, platforms
could potentially be liable
for everything that people say.
May I interrupt?
[Mark] No,
but thank you for asking.
Let him finish the answer.
[Mark] Without 230,
platforms
could potentially be liable
for everything that people say.
They'd face
much greater pressure
to take down more content--
One moment.
What do we know?
It's bad.
It's gonna be
a series of reports.
He's been working on it
for months.
-For months?
-Mm-hmm.
[stammers] Very serious,
that's all I know.
-What is he alleging?
-That's all I know.
If it's a series--
[specialist]
He's alleging a lot.
Does he have a source?
I don't know what he has.
I have a call with him
in 20 minutes,
just the two of us,
no lawyers yet.
But they're gonna
want us to comment.
The timing couldn't be worse.
All right.
We don't say anything to Mark
until we know more.
We have a lot to do today.
-Twenty minutes?
-Yeah.
Guy's been working on it
for months, and no one in PR--
No one in PR knew anything.
Unbelievable.
These speeches in, uh, DC,
they're, uh...
They're getting a little crazy.
Brendan, turn your phone off
and put it away.
He's gonna
lose his fucking mind.
Mark, if they have
content violations,
or a number of other criteria--
Or a number of other criteria.
So I'm quite focused on this.
Um, we don't have
any data today
on the real-world impact
of that yet, but...
What did you mean
you don't think
I know why I'm paying Raya?
-[Charlie]
She's a crisis specialist.
-[Raya] Fellas.
[Charlie]
Raya Akinola is crisis PR.
She's who you use
when whole economies
are in jeopardy.
She's who monarchies use.
If this wasn't a crisis,
would I even be allowed
in the building?
These guys are counting on
the next round
of congressional testimony
to make you likable, Mark.
I'm happy to lend a hand,
but I think you're doomed.
-Okay.
-So, revising
or repealing Section 230
would end your business.
-Follow-up.
-Sure.
What does MSI stand for?
Their response
is going to be that
they're aware of the problem,
and they're working on it.
But I'm on
the Civic Integrity Team,
and we're the ones
who would be working on it.
[Jeff] And everything
you just told me,
I mean, everything
on these index cards,
it can only be proven with
the internal documents, right?
Sure. So, what would you need?
To stand up the story?
Yeah.
The internal documents.
No.
Or for you to go on the record.
Absolutely no.
I figured.
Just doing what I just did
is a material violation
of my NDA.
Well, my last job,
I covered Washington,
where they're pretty serious
about leaking to the press.
Not like this.
I love Facebook.
I believe in our mission.
Sure.
So, that's it for me.
I-I've done my duty
off the record.
I'm out. You can
collect evidence on your own.
Okay.
I mean it. Please don't
try and contact me.
I can't encourage you
to violate your contract.
My paper would be sued.
And I can't encourage you
to break the law
because it's against the law.
I'm not asking
for encouragement.
I came here to say that
we're playing
with kerosene and matches.
You do the rest.
It was nice meeting you.
I'm a fan of some of your work.
You can leave first.
I'll, uh... I'll wait.
Okay.
One other thing.
Just look into
something called MSI.
I've never heard of MSI,
but explain 64% again.
Why is this hard
for you to understand?
I understand.
Just explain it again.
There's a chain of restaurants
that serve heroin.
Sixty-four percent of
their customers are there
because Facebook says,
"We think you'll enjoy
this restaurant."
Is he a nut?
We should give him a name.
[Jeff] My source?
So we have something
to call him.
Call him Fred.
He's a mid-level engineer.
Is he a nut? [inhales deeply]
No. I don't think so.
No, Civic Integrity
was put into place
in order to examine the effects
of Facebook at scale.
Polarization, mobilization
of violence, misinformation.
They're supposed to
put people's interests
ahead of Facebook's.
-They even take an oath.
-To be conscious.
-What?
-They mean "conscientious."
The point is, some of them
are true believers.
This may be one of them.
Or it may be a lure
to see
if they can get the new guy
to chase a bad story.
Tech loves to
embarrass old media.
And this newspaper does not
like to be embarrassed.
Neither do I.
Fred's a dumb name
for an alias.
-I can change it.
-No, you can't.
You said "Fred." It's Fred now.
We're all gonna be saying
"Fred" like fucking idiots.
Is she ever in a good mood?
She is right now.
Sixty-four percent.
How's that happening?
How is that happening?
[tense music playing]
[punching keys]
This is your first time, right?
Mm-hmm.
Stand in the back
and don't say anything.
You're an extra in this scene.
[assistant]
Okay. You can come on in.
Hurry.
The muscle guys pretending
to type, are they security?
Don't talk.
[tense music continues]
[executive] Who's presenting?
Amal.
Let's go.
They're ready.
This meeting is a follow-up
to your request
during the H2 M-team
Integrity review.
You asked us to explore
new levers to strengthen--
I don't know your name.
Amal.
Amal.
I don't need
the "previously on."
What are the decision points,
and what's the recommendation?
Okay.
Okay.
Integrity impact:
how much are we reducing
the violation of
borderline content?
Value to people:
are we presenting
meaningful engagement
and positive sentiment?
-And--
-How many are there?
I'm sorry?
Three.
There are three.
To define terms,
we define "Hard Actions" as
a removal of violating content.
Our experiment:
focused on Soft Actions,
everything short of removal.
So that includes demotions,
down-ranking--
You have to get to the end.
Okay.
We partially replace
downstream models
-for high-risk--
-This isn't the end.
Just give him
upside and downside.
Okay. If we dial back
downstream MSI,
we can reduce
civic misinformation by 38%.
[Lucas] Thirty-eight percent.
Model shows
if we stop boosting content
most likely to be reshared,
we reduce
civic misinformation by 38%.
The downside?
There's really not much.
This is a big win.
Can you assign
"really not much"
a number value?
A 1% reduction in engagement.
[Lucas] Just 1%.
You know what 1% is at scale?
That's 30 million people
who just stop scrolling.
Do you know
what 38% is at scale?
[sighs]
Thanks. That's it.
[executive] You can go.
"Just 1%."
Fucking Civic Integrity.
[executive]
They solve problems.
They point out problems.
[Lucas]
You're going to hear a rumor:
the Civic Integrity is being dissolved.
It's not. It's not.
But if the team was dissolved,
there is an argument to be made
that that would be
a good thing.
We'd be absorbed
into other teams.
[rain pattering]
[Jeff] There's no one else
here, Frances.
We're the only ones
hiking today.
[Frances]
It's moving northwest.
It's gonna stop in a minute.
You know, I'm happy to
come to your place
if that's easier.
At least a dozen
Facebook employees
live in my building.
Well,
I'm staying at
the Stanbridge Suites
if you ever want to
talk indoors.
You haven't found
a place to live yet?
No. I should really do that.
What's on your mind?
It's been 51 days
since I gave you the story.
Sixty-four percent.
Why haven't you printed it?
Because you didn't give me
a story. You told me a story.
I'm trying to find proof.
Hurry up.
Anytime you want to hand over
the internal documents...
I thought you weren't allowed
to ask me to break the--
I'm not.
I don't want to spend
the rest of my life
being made an example of
by a guy
with unlimited resources.
I told you already, you and I
aren't on the same team.
I remember.
The rain's stopping...
as I said it would.
They're gonna dissolve
Civic Integrity.
It's only a matter of time.
Why do you say that?
Something that was said
at a team meeting.
-I'm sorry.
-He has a ballistic couch
in his office.
It's bulletproof.
He also has
a bulletproof wall monitor.
How does a bulletproof couch
protect you?
You cower behind it.
Right.
What have you found out
about MSI?
Nothing.
Well, you're useless.
That's not the first time
I've heard that.
Your company is very good
at keeping
its information private,
which is more than I can say
for its users.
We used to optimize for likes.
The algorithm wants you
to stay on the site
for as long as possible.
It's the same as
terrestrial radio
or network television,
or any
advertiser-supported business.
We knew what kept you scrolling
-because of likes.
-Right.
And then two years ago,
a decision was made to optimize
for what would be called
"meaningful
social interactions."
The debate is over.
I wanna optimize for MSI.
[Frances]
And the algorithm was changed.
I found a post about this.
Oh, so you have done some work.
Mark felt that
more personal posts...
Things like anniversaries,
birthdays, graduations...
...they were being crowded out
by posts from brands.
Yeah, they were.
The goal was to foster
more genuine interactions.
And strengthen the sense
of community on the platform.
-Right, yeah.
-He said,
"Now, I wanna be clear."
By making these changes,
I expect the time
people spend on Facebook
and some measures
of engagement will go down.
[Frances] Yeah.
He's a CEO deciding to
make less money
to improve his product.
Yeah.
So, what's the problem?
Well, it doesn't explain
how we radicalized my friend.
Maybe your friend was--
Which is what happened.
It just is.
I bought you a burner phone.
Do you expect me to
photograph documents on that?
I'm only asking
'cause it's a felony.
My phone number is in here.
You call me anytime you like.
Anything else you do with
the phone, that's up to you.
No, I just wanted to
tell you that
they were gonna dissolve
Civic Integrity.
This was it.
[Frances sighs]
[sighs]
I know you well
I've been coding with you
Goodbye, my teammates
[cheering]
Goodbye, my friends
You have been the ones
You have been
The ones for me
-Thank you very much.
-[cheering]
[Frances] Morgan.
Hey. This is
a room full of people
who shouldn't sing karaoke.
[chuckles]
I-I've drafted a letter
detailing some of my concerns
in an election year.
I have it right here.
I thought some of us
could sign it, or,
if we get enough team members--
Hang on.
Listen.
Just as nature abhors a vacuum,
Facebook abhors friction.
Every single thing he does
seeks to eliminate
human friction.
-I know. But it--
-Frances.
-Listen.
-Frances.
Have you looked at political
engagement in Stuttgart?
[scoffs] No, of course
I haven't looked at
political engagement
in Stuttgart.
Civic was designed
to create tension
between growth and safety.
We write code
that creates friction.
It's only a matter of time.
I'm not signing a letter,
and you're not
signing a letter.
Don't be friction.
Delete that thing.
[mother] Oh, my God.
I can't believe
what I'm reading.
-[daughter] Mom.
-I'm calling Rachel's mother.
-This is... No, this is--
-Mom.
[daughter]
You can't call anyone's mom.
They'll kill me.
I swear they'll kill me.
Let's just eat dinner, please.
[mother sighs]
These comments...
[pensive music playing]
[daughter]
I need to change schools.
Excuse me.
Sorry. Uh,
I was just sitting here,
and I overheard what...
Oh, we apologize.
No. I work for Facebook,
so if your daughter
is being bullied,
she should report it to us,
and we will shut it down.
It's not Facebook.
It's Instagram.
We bought it.
It's one company now.
Separate platforms,
but one company.
You can report bullying.
Only if someone's doing it
on their main feed,
which no one ever does.
They set up hate pages.
They've made 11 hate pages
about her.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I...
Enjoy your dinner, please.
-Dad, no.
-[father] Just be a sec.
Excuse me.
It's her entire
social structure.
It is for all of them.
There was bullying
when I was a kid,
but the velocity,
the size of distribution,
and the anonymity...
-I used to get--
-The school called us
when her gym teacher
saw cuts on her leg.
My wife
wants to talk to the parents.
Me? I wanna go see the kids...
with a fucking fairway wood.
Unplug the goddamn thing.
[sighs]
[knocks on door]
Uh, come on in.
You look nice. Were you out?
No. If anyone sees me
coming or going,
I want it to look like
I'm on a date.
When you say a "date,"
do you mean a--
Yeah, yeah.
Still no story about 64%.
That's the only reason
I contacted you.
That's the only reason.
How long did they take
when Daniel Ellsberg
gave them the Pentagon Papers?
No time. They did it like that.
Do you really not see
the difference
between the two?
For the Pentagon Papers,
he gave them...
-...the Pentagon Papers.
-The Pentagon Papers, yeah.
The switch to MSI
wasn't to foster
more genuine interactions
and strengthen the sense
of community on the platform.
Our users were getting older.
Comments, reshares, and likes:
all declining.
Engagement: declining.
We've tried every intervention.
[executive 1] Ranking for
likes, ranking for videos,
ranking chronologically.
[executive 2]
Nothing has stopped
or even slowed erosion.
If engagement keeps declining,
and I don't see
why it wouldn't,
it's gonna be
a bad earnings report.
We'd lose value in
the third and fourth quarter.
How much value?
How do you know about this?
I bought
an air-gapped computer.
That means it's never been
connected to the Internet.
It's an island.
It's simply a motherboard and
a central processor that...
[Jeff] I know what
an air-gapped computer is.
Well, the first time we spoke,
you said you were stupid.
-I'm sure I didn't say that.
-"Ish."
Hey, Woodward and Bernstein
weren't White House reporters.
They were metro.
You mean like they used mousse?
Not "metrosexual,"
metro report--
They covered the city.
I love what I do.
I want you to know that.
Democratization,
giving a voice to...
giving ever-- giving everyone,
that's what we do.
I didn't say that well, but...
You've made it clear.
There's a photo on there.
Is it a photo of
a stolen document?
Yes.
Okay. Then I can't handle
your laptop.
But if you'd open it, I'd be
happy to see what's on there.
-Wuss.
-Would you just open
the damn thing?
Thank you.
This was part of a presentation
given at a meeting
two years ago this month.
Our users were getting older.
That's why engagement
went down.
There. I have now,
in addition to the ongoing
violation of my NDA,
committed a crime.
Have you been reading
about the virus?
[Jeff] Hmm?
The novel virus.
Yeah.
[Frances] I set up a Facebook
group to share data.
People have posted papers
and research.
Everyone's trying to
estimate the infectiousness.
[Jeff] Hmm.
There was one post that
described the kinetics
of a virus.
For every case
that's escalated to the ICU,
there are 100 hidden cases
of fresh infections
working their way
up the pipeline.
Right now, there are
ten reported cases in the US,
which means there are
hundreds we don't see yet.
You know how fast that's gonna
multiply exponentially?
Fast.
And you know
where those ten cases are?
What? No.
Right here.
Okay.
[Frances] My point is,
it's gonna be bad.
What is?
Never mind.
I wonder why he thought
that changing the metric to MSI
would reverse the trend.
And did it?
Did engagement increase?
I don't know.
[Zach]
They rejected your fake name.
They keep doing that.
You wanna try
another fake name?
No, we need a real name
and a real email address.
Do you already have
a Facebook account?
I do.
Evelyn. Do you already
have a Facebook account?
No. Wait, what do you--
I need a real person to open
a fake Facebook page
and start liking things.
I need to use your name.
But some people
might think it's really me.
Let's get started.
Evelyn Dabrowski
isn't necessarily a common--
-[Jeff] Here's what I want
the profile to say.
-Hang on.
You're a young mother from
Wilmington, North Carolina...
-Wait--
-[Jeff] ...and you don't trust
the government.
Shit.
You're interested in politics,
but you don't like politicians.
And anything anti-immigrant,
you give it a thumbs up.
Am I being punished?
I'll need your information.
Yep.
[suspenseful music playing]
[shutter clicking]
[shutter continues clicking]
Engagement increased?
Everything increased,
especially reshares.
By how much?
Fifty percent?
Engagement and reshares
increased 50% in a year
after introducing MSI?
Yeah.
Contagions.
If something doubles every day,
at the end of the first week,
you'd have 128 times
what you had at the start.
But at the end of
the second week,
you'd have
16,384 times as much.
Okay. Next page?
Imagine if you were unable
to see the state of the world
and were only able to see it
the way it was a week ago.
You'd think
you were dealing with 128 X,
when really,
you're dealing with 16,000 X.
That's this virus.
We're late.
W-Why did engagement
go through the roof like this?
I don't know.
Maybe we should contact
-an investigative reporter.
-[chuckles]
[phone ringing]
[Evelyn] I... I have...
-[date] Don't.
-[Evelyn] I have to.
-Hello?
-[Jeff] Hey, it's me.
-Yep.
-[Jeff] Reshares.
Reshare the posts.
Don't just like them.
Reshare them.
[Evelyn] Oh, God. With who?
Okay, so that's it for me.
Yes, thank you. Get home safe.
No, I mean, this is really it.
I'm flying to Puerto Rico
in the morning.
For how long?
For however long
the virus lasts.
Wait...
Are you going to Puerto Rico
or are you moving
to Puerto Rico?
I have celiac disease.
What is that?
It's an allergy to gluten.
An allergy?
What's the worst that could
happen if you eat gluten?
Death.
But a result of the
celiac disease is neuropathy,
which means
my wrists and ankles
respond to cold
with a lack of blood flow
and it's painful.
I didn't know that.
You haven't noticed I wear
gloves and leg warmers a lot?
I thought it was
a fashion choice.
I try to make it work.
People are going to start
working from home,
so I'm taking this opportunity
to work where it's warm.
I'm renting a place
in San Juan.
I got an Airbnb on the beach.
We were just starting to
get somewhere.
It is a terrible time for you
to migrate to warm weather.
It's nerve damage.
It's inconvenient for me too.
A change in the algorithm
that was designed to
show more wedding pictures
boosted engagement 50%.
Yeah! Figure out why.
I have to finish packing.
-No, hang on to the phone.
-No.
It's just a phone. Keep it.
[Frances]
So what do you do now?
Write more letters
and start all over again?
Yes. Yeah,
I'll start all over again.
While waiting for a cure
to be found
for a virus that
was just discovered,
I will develop a new source
and start all over again
because of gluten.
Okay. Good luck.
[door opens]
-[door closes]
-Fuck!
[elevator bell dings]
[tense music playing]
[exhales]
[valet] Ticket?
Thanks.
[exhales deeply]
We were getting somewhere!
What do you usually do
when something
like this happens?
When my source
moves to Puerto Rico
because of
a global health crisis?
Let's regroup.
What do we have so far?
Where are we?
Facebook's algorithm
is recommending hate groups
at an alarming rate.
Yes,
and I can't prove that yet.
That is a big story
but there is a bigger story.
What's the bigger story?
-"Why."
-[Jeff] "Why."
"Why" is the bigger story,
all right?
What is the secret ingredient
in MSI
that's making engagement
increase by 50% in a year?
[Andy]
Their users are getting older.
They've got competition
from TikTok.
They're in deep trouble.
Then they adjust the algorithm.
Call it "Meaningful
Social Interactions."
Announce publicly
that MSI might make engagement
go down even more,
but that's okay,
because they know
it is really going to go up.
What were they spiking
the drink with?
I have to go back
to the drawing board.
I-I have to find a new source.
No. I don't have
that kind of patience.
Go to Puerto Rico.
Christina, every time we've
met, Fred has come to me,
all right? I don't want to a--
If you get him to give you
the documents you need
to stand up the 64% story,
he'll be pot committed.
Then he will help you
get to the bottom of MSI.
No, I promised these sources
they are going to be safe.
All right? If Fred is gonna
continue to
risk his job and more,
I'd rather it come from him.
I want the big story, and then
I want the bigger story.
Go to Puerto Rico.
With each new file he opens,
he's creating a footprint.
He knows that.
-Let me think about this.
-Yes, think about this.
Take all of
the next ten minutes.
Right.
Jeff, you would know.
Settle a bet.
Is "spatula" a Yiddish word?
[sighs]
I don't know. I don't think so.
Who the fuck
did you make that bet with?
What is wrong with you?
Jeff.
Yeah.
You need to see this.
[group leader] Thanks for
taking a few minutes
to find out who we are
and, more importantly,
what we stand for.
You'll meet some of
our chapter leaders,
learn what we can do for you,
you can do for us,
and we can do together.
["Hasta el Amanecer" playing]
[song continues
on sound system]
[server] Ready to order?
Sure.
I'll try
the mofongo con mariscos
-and the sliced green bananas.
-[server]
It'll just be a minute.
[diner 1]
...millimeter wave spectrum
-used by 5G technology--
-[diner 2 mutters]
[diner 1] Millimeter wave
spectrum used by 5G technology
-and COVID-19 are related!
-[diner 2] You sound crazy.
[diner 1] Do some research.
It's all over Facebook.
Read about Wuhan
installing 5G towers
-before the first cases were...
-[snaps fingers]
-[diner 3] Reported.
-[diner 1] ...were reported.
Yes!
People are posting about it.
-Look it up.
-[diner 2 chuckling]
[Raya] We're gonna move away
from Section 230.
Robbie, I do want to look
at the alternate
for the 230 questions
and hear what we have
for political ads.
Brendan, put your phone away
or we're all gonna
lose our jobs.
-Okay, but this rally fully--
-[whispers] I don't care.
Mark, political ads.
-Well--
-"Senator."
-Well, Senator--
-Just "Senator."
Senator,
I think lying is bad. I do.
And I think if you were to
run a political ad with a lie,
that would be bad.
But I don't think
the right thing to do
is to prevent the voters
from seeing that you lied.
[Raya] There it is.
I can live with that.
I think he just catches
the corner of the plate.
-It's less defensive.
-I don't think it's defensive
at all. It's a win.
Everybody good over here?
Robbie? Brendan?
-Yes.
-Good.
-Jake?
-Good.
-Ed?
-Excellent.
-Charlie?
-Are you fucking crazy?
I'd like to commend whomever
thought it was a good idea
to bring Charlie in, Raya.
It's a good answer.
You're providing a service
by exposing the voters
to the lie?
[Raya] It's a way of framing--
How does the voter know
it's a lie?
He's not literally saying--
What are you talking about?
He just literally did.
It's a way of framing--
He's trying to prevent
the voters from making some--
The question the Senator asked,
which Mark will be asked,
was would she be allowed to pay
to run a campaign ad
on Facebook
that claimed her opponent
voted for a bill
she didn't vote for?
The facts
are publicly available.
Are they supposed to consult
the congressional record?
-Are we?
-I'm just gonna sit here
while you do this,
because time
means nothing to me.
You can't give that answer.
Maybe with a different tie?
You're announcing that the
official policy of Facebook
now allows politicians to
pay to spread disinformation.
Not if it may cause
imminent harm.
[Charlie] Okay.
Using census data,
could I pay you to target
predominantly Black zip codes
to advertise that this year,
the election will be held
on Wednesday?
When we roll out the census
suppression policy, the--
[Charlie] No! Just say no.
Say, "No,
we would never do that."
Charlie, where there's
imminent risk of harm, then--
You're not fact-checking
political ads?
It's a democracy.
I believe in free speech.
Yeah, everybody does.
[stammers]
This can't be your answer.
I'm not standing in between
someone seeking office
and the voters.
[Charlie] You are standing
in between them.
You're like a crossing guard
standing out
in front of a school,
but you're not doing anything
with your arms.
So the cars are just
plowing down the children,
'cause it's a democracy.
The voters aren't children.
They don't need to be told
to eat their vegetables.
Then how about just telling us
which ones are vegetables,
and which ones are clumps of
dirt in the shape of a carrot?
People can decide on their own
without any help from me
if a politician or an advocacy
group is telling the truth.
-[Charlie] They can't.
-I respect our users.
-By lying to them?
-[Mark]
I'm not the one who's lying,
and I'm not stopping them
from seeing someone who is.
Most people know
when they're being lied to.
-How?
-[Robbie] After they aired
the first episode
of Gilligan's Island,
that night, a lady called
the US Navy in Pearl Harbor
to report seven people
shipwrecked
in the South Pacific.
I don't know what the fuck
to make of what he just said,
but I'm standing by
the Bill of Rights.
Let me talk to you
for a second.
-What do you want from me?
-What the hell?
As long as there's
no risk of imminent harm,
people can post what they want.
I'm not talking about the post.
The fact-check situation
on the post is bad enough.
I'm talking about ads.
Paid political ads.
You can't leave up
the ones that--
W-What are you
doing here, exactly?
Remember not too long ago...
Raya asked me.
Remember that not too long
ago, you valued my advice,
and you and this company
did well by it.
That was a nice time,
but it was replaced
by another time
where you wrote an op-ed.
That's how time works.
Do you remember what
you urged your readers to do?
You have to put that aside
for the moment.
"Wake up
to the Facebook calamity."
That's what
you beseeched them, so...
And it's fair to say our
interests may not be aligned.
We don't have time for this.
How much
did you invest in Facebook?
-It doesn't--
-How much?
I don't remember.
-Not the firm. You personally.
-Mark.
2.5 million.
And the return?
100X.
Yeah. $250 million. Calamitous.
And hopefully, you didn't
wake up to the calamity
until after you divested,
but if you hadn't,
your $2.5 million investment
would have been worth
this morning $1.2 billion.
So by all means, advise me.
You need to
fact-check political ads,
and you need to
reject the ones that--
I hear it
when I censor too much,
and I hear it
when I don't censor enough.
So I'm not gonna censor at all.
Well, you are gonna profoundly
regret that decision.
Remember that time you made
that "Hot or Not" website
in your dorm room
and every girl in
Boston hated you?
This is a worse decision
than that. Much worse.
Remember when
you lost a billion dollars
just to make
a sanctimonious point?
Okay, listen--
This isn't the meeting
where we talk about it.
That meeting happened already.
This is the meeting
where we make me likable.
I shouldn't have said that.
I know what strangers
think of me.
I get to read about it
every day.
So does my wife.
So will my kids.
T-They're working the refs.
The reason why you hear it
from the left and the right
on content moderation,
they're working the refs.
Facebook isn't the ref.
That's the point.
-Look.
-That's the point, Charlie.
We're not the ref.
We're the public square.
I'm a free speech absolutist,
so except where
there's imminent harm...
You can't say "absolutist"
and "except" in the same...
Where there's imminent...
With the new optimizations
with the MSI,
the fire hose of
bad information
you are injecting
into the air supply
is becoming jet-powered.
It's hydraulic.
Harm, I promise you,
is fucking imminent.
Shades of burgundy.
-[Mark] I don't like those.
-Okay.
We need to get back to it.
What's happening back there?
Why does Teddy keep coming in?
[Raya] Let me talk to him.
Don't worry about it.
No. Raya, we need him.
What?
The Wall Street Journal.
[phone ringing]
[sighs] Oh,
you gotta be kidding me.
[lively music playing]
If you'd called from
the airport in San Francisco
instead of the airport
in San Juan,
I would've told you
not to get on the plane.
This is the best banana
daiquiri I have ever had.
Without knowing how many
banana daiquiris you've had,
that data point is meaningless.
An intern at my office
set up a fake account.
She scrolled for hours every
day and liked everything.
After ten days,
she was invited to join
three different groups,
all labeled "extremist"
by the FBI.
[tense music playing]
I want the internal documents.
I want proof that
64% of the members
of extremist groups on Facebook
were sent there by your code.
Your code.
[grunts]
Pay for your dumb drink.
[Jeff]
My bureau chief asked me,
"How do you know where to
look for these things?"
Your bureau chief
knows about me?
My bureau chief, her deputy,
and my editor
think you're a guy named Fred.
Because of the work I did
at Pinterest and Google,
I'm sort of at the center of
a Venn diagram
of institutional knowledge.
Understand I'm not
a basset hound
you can send into the woods
to ferret out truffles.
I don't think basset hounds
do that, but sure.
I just want to be clear.
-You love your work.
-Yes.
Yes, I do. I love my work.
I get it. It is a good job.
Great pay,
stock options, benefits.
No, I'm paid what I'm worth.
But that's not
what I'm talking about.
I'm sorry.
Connecting people,
it's a virtuous mission.
Some people are awkward, Jeff.
Some people are self-conscious
in social situations.
And they get to be
their best self
when they're alone
at their keyboard.
We are in fact changing
the world.
Yeah.
Into what, it's not clear.
You know
when you first started,
we were warned about you.
They put your picture up
on the screen and everything.
When in history have
the people who've warned
about the press
-been the good guys?
-You think we're the bad guys?
I think that
you're the best tool
the bad guys have ever had,
and you're about to
show me proof of that.
-So let's move it along.
-That's like blaming
the Zodiac killer
-on pencils and paper.
-It's nothing like that.
We are about democratization.
I've heard that.
I've also heard
you're making the world
a better place.
Smug it up all you want,
but we are.
Sixth grade girls are calling
each other "broke bitch."
So I'm not entirely sold yet.
You're talking about
the culture.
We're talking about democ--
-Democratization.
-Yeah.
Frances, democracy is
the best form of government.
It is not the best form
of everything.
I appreciate the mansplaining.
Speaking on behalf of
all men now,
we've heard that feedback.
We've considered it,
done some introspection
and come to the conclusion
that is something
that women say
when they're losing
an argument.
[scoffs, chuckles]
You don't think
everyone deserves a voice?
Everyone has a voice.
We're born with one.
Not everyone deserves
a microphone.
Well, not everyone
gets to write
for The Wall Street Journal.
That's the point.
Uh-- Credentials.
You have to be good to work
there. You have to earn it.
Yeah. Try getting a job
at Facebook.
[Jeff sighs]
[Frances]
First, I'm gonna show you
the network architecture maps.
You know you have to
explain all this, right?
Uh-huh. [sighs]
[Jeff] Andy, hang on. I'm just
looking for reception.
Okay. Hey. We've got it.
We can hold another week
if you don't think--
[Jeff]
No, no, no, we've got it.
Documentation,
interaction
among extremist groups,
groups you should join,
impact study.
A blind quote from the source.
"They're playing with
kerosene and matches."
"We." "We are playing
with kerosene and matches."
Can we say he was on
the Civic Integrity Team?
No. "A Facebook engineer who's
remaining anonymous so as..."
[phone beeping]
Hang on. I've got another call.
Hello?
The intern in your office,
you said it was ten days
before there was contact?
[Jeff] Yeah.
That's a lot less time
than it took my friend.
-[Jeff] Why? Why do you think?
-The reshares.
When I was in your room,
you made a phone call.
Was it to the intern?
It was.
[Frances]
And you told her to reshare.
Not just to like,
but to reshare.
[Jeff] That's right.
I'm on Pacific time.
I work from noon to 10:00.
Meet me tomorrow at the place
with the dumb drink.
It was just a banana daiquiri--
Shit.
-Andy.
-[Andy] Yeah, I'm here.
Listen, I know there are
easier enemies to make.
The Mafia would be
an easier enemy to make.
[Jeff] Yeah.
But we're gonna publish.
[intriguing music playing]
[Frances] Hi, Miriam.
Hi, Frances.
Thank you for meeting with me.
Sure. I got your message.
[Miriam] We have a problem.
I'm afraid we need you
to come back here.
[Frances] Walk with me.
Reshares. You need to
go truffle hunting.
I have to go back home
tomorrow morning.
Why?
Turns out Facebook policy
doesn't permit
working from territories,
even during company-wide
phases of remote work.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Okay.
Well, back to gloves
and leg warmers.
We can work from my hotel.
We're not going to be doing
any of this anymore.
-I'm done.
-Okay.
-For real.
-And I'm humoring you.
The 64% piece ran today.
It was comprehensible.
-I have done my duty.
-Frances...
At some point, they're
going to be able to trace it.
All they have to do
is look at the pattern--
Has anybody said anything?
No, but when HR
contacted me this morning...
You thought it was
about the story.
-Yeah.
-And that scared the hell
out of you for a minute.
For a lot more than a minute.
Shh.
For more than a minute.
Who does this? Like, I'm not
a Frank Capra character.
I wouldn't have thought
you watch Frank Capra movies.
-Why not?
-I don't know.
Well, I've seen them both.
Well, he's made more than two.
The big ones.
I know what
you're talking about,
but you should still see
Lost Horizon .
Arsenic and Old Lace ,
Here Comes the Groom --
-Oh, my God. Shut up.
-Okay.
Who does this?
This isn't something I'm doing
until I can do
the thing I really want to do.
This is the thing
I really want to do.
You sent a LinkedIn message
to everyone in Civic Integrity.
Why was I the only one
who wrote back?
-It was 'cause your friend is--
-Barely a friend.
It was someone I knew,
and I overreacted.
-Here. Just take this.
-No, you hang on to that.
No, just take it.
Yes, I know what to look for
and where to look for it.
But do you think that
I'm the only one?
[stammers] So, this is... I...
I'm sorry.
I would like to have some
Spartacus-rated courage
of my conviction, but I don't.
Art and literature have set
a pretty high standard
for who we're supposed to be.
Antigone, John Proctor,
A Tale of Two Cities ...
I can't remember his name.
I mean, Gandalf,
for God's sake.
And maybe I am Chicken Little.
Maybe none of it's a big deal.
Maybe none of it's a big deal.
Anyway,
I'm not gonna risk my job,
my future,
or my freedom anymore
to help a reporter who,
let's face it,
is biased against tech because
we're taking journalism jobs.
[exhales deeply] Who does this?
[pensive music playing]
I appreciate all the help
you have given me
and the risks
that you have taken to do it.
I'm sorry you had a scare.
And you are absolved.
For the record,
my bias isn't because tech
is taking journalism jobs.
It's because you are
doing them so badly.
It's a big deal.
Have a safe flight back,
Frances.
[scoffs]
The Wall Street Journal.
There's a series
they've been working on.
-[Raya] For months.
-A series?
Nobody knew
they were working on this?
Cynthia's on vacation.
Way to throw your boss
under the bus.
The head of Media Relations
is in Kathmandu.
-That's all--
-[Mark] W-Who's the reporter?
Jeff Horwitz.
[Teddy] I just got off
the phone with him.
It's gonna be Instagram
and mental health,
XCheck favors elites,
drug cartels use
our services openly,
human traffickers
use our services openly,
vaccinations,
internal chat boards,
and they're starting off
with MSI.
He has a source
and he has internal documents.
-Bloody hell.
-[Brendan]
Wait, say again. What?
He has a source.
He won't give me his name,
but he used to work here.
[tense music playing]
[Raya] When do they publish?
[Teddy] Starting Monday.
Who did you say it was?
Jeff Horwitz.
He broke the 64% story
last April.
Did you know
this was happening?
No. I don't know anything
about this.
You haven't spoken to this guy?
Jeff Horwitz?
[Charlie] I've spoken with him,
but I don't know anything
about this.
And his source that
used to work here?
[Brendan] Fuck!
Keep your voice down.
I have a meeting with Horwitz
at six tonight.
He's coming here,
just him and me on background,
and that's when I'll know more.
-6:00 tonight.
-[Teddy] Six o'clock.
Let's get back to work.
What was that about
Instagram and mental health?
-[Mark] Hmm?
-[Charlie] When he listed
what the Journal 's got,
he said,
"Instagram and mental health."
Nothing.
We're aware of the problem
and we're working on it.
And MSI?
I am not a sheep.
I'm not a sheep.
Show me the law.
-[cashier] Ma'am--
-Do your research--
No, no, no. Do your research.
Show me the law,
the federal or state law--
[cashier]
The store has the right...
Do your research!
[cashier] Ma'am...
[customer 1] Show me
the federal or state statute
that requires me to
wear a mask!
[cashier] Ma'am, the store
has the right to refuse--
[customer 1]
Show me the statute.
[customer 2] I have extras in
my purse. You can have one.
-[customer 1] You're a sheep!
-[customer 2] You can have it.
[somber music playing]
[Kaylee] You want to say hi?
Want to say hi to the Internet?
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. You got quiet.
This is what it is
to be white in America.
You get treated like
a stupid fucking immigrant.
I got stopped
for being American in America.
[Diaz] You're stopped
because your car overheated.
[doorbell chimes]
[Kaylee]
You don't let me slide.
Hi.
Can I come in?
I'm tested.
Sure.
I didn't even know
you knew where I lived.
I live in this building.
We just
never run into each other.
Sorry I keep it so hot in here.
You know why.
Frances, at that goodbye party,
you showed me the letter
you were gonna send.
It was on your screen.
-O-Okay--
-You said, "We're playing
with kerosene and matches."
In the letter
on your screen that night.
And that was the blind quote
in the Journal story.
You're working with
Jeff Horwitz.
[tense music playing]
No.
Morgan, you and I don't know
each other very well.
I can explain all of this--
If you found out there was
a recent internal study done
on the effects of Instagram
on teenage girls
with body-image issues,
which is all of them,
what would be
an acceptable percentage
of that test population
whose issues were found
to have gotten worse--
anxiety, depression,
and suicidal thoughts--
as a result of time spent
on the platform?
What would--
What would be an acceptable
percentage, for you,
of teenage girls whose
body-image issues got worse
as a result of their time
on our website?
I-- I'm not sure.
Two percent?
One percent.
It's 32%.
What study?
[Morgan] This one.
Please give this
to your friend.
Before they start
marketing Instagram Kids.
[door opens]
[door closes]
[commentators chattering,
indistinct]
[sighs]
[knocking on door]
-[remote clicks]
-[television mutes]
There is an explanation
for this.
Have you considered that
your camouflage
might be drawing
more attention?
Zip it!
-Okay.
-For the life of me,
I couldn't remember
-what hotel this was.
-[Jeff clears throat]
That's why I didn't call first.
Marriott, Ramada,
Hilton, Hyatt,
Embassy Suites, DoubleTree.
I couldn't remember.
I only knew where it was.
And I gave back the phone.
And I parked on the hill.
And it's raining.
-You all right?
-Well, I look ridiculous.
I should have called that out,
I guess.
[no audible dialogue]
What's that guy so happy about?
[Jeff] Hmm?
The one who just punched
the air in front of him.
Why is he so happy?
It's a replay.
He hit a 30-foot jump shot
to tie the game
in the last second.
Is everything okay?
J-Just a tie?
He's that happy for a tie?
[Jeff]
Well, they go into overtime.
Did he win in overtime?
[Jeff] Uh... We'll see.
The game's not over.
I can't remember
ever being that happy.
Have you ever been that happy
as the guy who punched the air?
I've never been that happy.
I'm the girl in class
with her hand raised
that nobody wants
the teacher to call on.
I should have just stopped
raising my hand.
-Do you wanna sit?
-Downstream MSI.
I don't know what that is.
You don't know shit,
you Luddite.
[Jeff] What happened out there?
Downstream MSI is the avalanche
for follow-on activity
that makes a post go viral.
-Okay.
-Just listen.
In the beginning,
the best thing you could do
was like a post.
If you liked a post, we'd show
you more things like that.
Then two years ago,
we optimized for MSI.
-[clicks]
-Here's what changed.
Emoji responses will be worth
five times as much as a like,
comments will be worth
15 times as much as a like,
and reshares will be worth
30 times as much.
The algorithm wants to
show you content
that you're gonna reshare.
It wants that badly.
The algorithm shift
is easily positioned
as an adjustment
that's good for people,
not good for Facebook.
[tense music playing]
Now, I wanna be clear.
By making these changes,
I expect the time
people spend on Facebook
and some measures of
engagement will go down.
Can you guess
what the problem is?
By prioritizing content
that gets reshared
at 30 times
the power of a like...
-[Raya] Wait.
-[executive stammers] Raya...
No, no, no. Wait.
Mark, we know
what gets reshared the most.
[executive] Raya,
respectfully, you're not--
We already know. Outrage bait.
-We already know.
-[executive] Raya!
We have God knows
how many internal studies
showing what gets reshared
the most. We already know.
Jesus Christ.
Yeah.
At a time when we're trying to
address misinformation,
hyperpartisanship,
hate speech, you're going to
amplify and turbocharge it.
[David] He's right, Raya.
You're not supposed--
It's antithetical, David,
to connecting people,
which, as I understood,
was the whole ethos of--
[David] The stock price, Raya.
It's a public company.
-We have studies clear as day.
-[Mark] We're a corkboard.
What?
We're a corkboard.
We don't control
what people pin to it.
But you can, right?
The debate is over.
I wanna optimize for MSI.
Jesus. Frances,
somewhere in that computer
is evidence that
senior leadership knew.
That he knew that
the things most likely to
be reshared are...
Anything that makes you angry.
Yeah.
That's the something
that happened.
[knocking on door]
[Jeff] I got it. It's okay.
Hi. Oh, that's okay.
Thank you.
[server] Have a good evening.
Give us a call
when we can collect the tray.
[Jeff] Thanks very much.
[breathes shakily]
[Jeff] He's gone.
Room service. I ordered dinner.
Relax. It's okay.
In your experience,
how hard is it
to get powerful people
to change something
they're doing?
When it's about money,
it's hard.
Yeah.
[Jeff] But when
it's not about money,
it's really hard.
No, you have to cause pain.
You have to make it hurt.
[intriguing music playing]
I quit my job today.
What... You quit your job?
I can't take their money
while I'm stealing
their documents.
I lose access midnight Friday,
so we have 102 hours
to get everything.
How much do you think
there is on MSI?
No, I mean everything.
This is a study that
hasn't been made public
of Instagram
and teen mental health.
There's also going to be
evidence of drug cartels
and drug traffickers
and human traffickers.
You guys are gonna need
more ink.
102 hours.
If I work here, it'll save time
running back and forth
with the phone.
Sydney Carton...
is the name of the hero
in A Tale of Two Cities .
They chop his head off.
See, this is
what I'm talking about.
I get it. Let's go to work.
[Raya] Don't say "users."
Say "people."
Don't say "humans."
It sounds like
you're running an experiment.
Blair, you have one job:
to find a necktie
for this man here.
It's not as simple as it seems.
It can't possibly be more
complicated than it seems.
-You'd be surprised.
-[Raya] I'd be thunderstruck.
-Blue.
-[Blair] We tried blue.
-Different blue.
-Okay.
"Feel. Felt. Found."
Acknowledge how people feel.
Acknowledge that others
have felt the same way,
and share what Facebook has
found and is doing about it.
Yeah, and fact-check
political ads.
-We are past that now.
-Then go back to it.
This isn't the meeting
where we do this.
-Facts are subjective.
-No, they're not.
-They are, actually.
-[Robbie] They are.
What if a political ad
said that
a president
created six million jobs,
including a half a million
manufacturing jobs.
To fact-check that,
you'd have to determine
whether that was net or gross,
whether the active voice
claiming causation
was appropriate,
and whether the job growth
stemmed from
preexisting economic momentum.
-How is it possible-- [grunts]
-Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Go with that. Mark--
Enough!
You've been at me all morning,
and I'm done.
People around here understand
that when I say no,
that's the end of the debate.
I'm not two years out of
a dorm room anymore, Charlie.
Look around.
-Okay, guys.
-[Mark] Goddamn it.
Look--
You're acting like a jilted
lover, Charlie. You are.
I remember that, when you
were briefing against me.
We met once.
We met once a week,
every week, for three years.
"Once" like "once upon a time."
You gave me advice.
I took some of it.
-[Charlie] All of it.
-Some of it.
-Did you sell to Yahoo?
-[Mark] I didn't.
You're welcome.
But that doesn't--
You committed a pretty
stunning act of betrayal,
and now we don't meet anymore.
Oh, I left when you started
commoditizing gullibility.
And so I lost a ton of money.
And I'm troubled that you think
that's something
I should find embarrassing.
-For a VC.
-Do you know what
the three most popular posts
were yesterday?
[scoffs] No.
[Charlie] Two of them
were factually absurd,
one of 'em was perverse,
all three were hysterical
and stupid,
and none of 'em
had any news value at all.
Those people are perverse,
hysterical and stupid, Charlie.
That's not me
posting that shit.
[Charlie] But aren't you
a little embarrassed?
We don't meet anymore, so
I don't know why you're here.
I'm here to tell you
to fact-check political ads.
Well, I'm here to say no.
It's impossible, Charlie.
At scale, it's impossible.
Expecting real-time vetting,
millions of political ads
across
diverse electoral systems
in a hundred different
languages simply isn't a po--
You're gonna sell fewer ads.
That's all.
You're gonna sell fewer ads,
but you're not gonna care
because political advertising
accounts for less than one half
of one percent of your revenue.
A fraction that can
more than be made up for
in the goodwill that comes
from people knowing
that a political advertisement
on Facebook platforms
is factually accurate.
Change a zero to a one,
or a one to a zero.
Just do it.
You finished?
Or is it possible
that the politicians who
stand to benefit the most
from misinformation
are also the ones
most likely to create
a more relaxed
regulatory environment?
The ones least likely
to reform Section 230?
It's a business, Charlie.
You know why
we don't fact-check ads?
It's because we don't have to.
Are you new?
[Raya] All right.
Body language, Mark.
Start with a gentle nod
to show engagement.
Let me see it now
whilst I'm talking to you.
Yeah.
Not so much, a little softer.
Yeah.
We're switching out his tie,
are we not?
Shut the fuck up.
What's going on back there?
[no audible dialogue]
[Raya] What?
They need Mark.
Forget The Wall Street Journal .
I can't today.
[Robbie] No. It's the Capitol.
What's happened at the Capitol?
They've made contact
with the police.
It's been declared a riot.
[tense music playing]
[music continues]
[Teddy] A-Are you seeing this?
-[door opens]
-Wh...
They just put out
an agency-wide bulletin.
Anyone with a badge and a gun.
-We're setting up an IPOC.
-A what?
It stands for "integrated
product observation."
-It's a war room.
-[door closes]
European political parties
telling us the change to MSI
forced them to produce
more negative content.
[Mark] If you're in this room
and you haven't been tested,
you need to be wearing a mask.
[employee 1] We need to demote
all low-quality publishers.
[employee 2] Okay.
We're gonna deploy
the P50 confidence model
for the hate speech demotion.
The rioters
are talking to each other.
We need to review this PR
in the next five minutes.
[employee 2]
This needs to ship now.
[employee 3] We're gonna
redeploy feed boost removals.
[employee 1] Service is
ready. We're waiting
for product approval
to route 100% of traffic.
[employee 2]
Going to the 100X threshold?
-100X for the threshold.
Somebody talk to me.
-That's a question for Zuck.
[employee 3] Parameters?
[employee 2] Parameters
are the same as eleven.
XCheck allows elite users
to post without moderation.
What qualifies
as an elite user?
That's the problem.
[employees chattering]
Um, I need Jordan,
and, uh, I need...
You got Jordan, right here.
Do we let him keep posting?
[tense music playing]
He's a sitting president.
[no audible dialogue]
Did they teach any math
at your school?
Did you go to a Baptist school
where math was like
witchcraft or dancing?
-I went to regular school!
-[Frances] Keep up!
-[employees chattering]
-[employee 2] I'm looking at
the NEQ dashboard now.
These borderline pages are
getting massive distribution.
[employee 1]
We should push our changes
directly to production.
We can't wait for
the normal deployment window.
Um, yeah.
Hey, buddy, you can't let him
post anymore.
[Jordan]
QYSJ needs tighter filtering.
Mark.
We have to
tighten the filtering.
[Jeff]
The effort to attract preteens
is going beyond Instagram Kids.
You're gonna wanna see
this document.
[all chanting] Stop the steal!
Stop the steal!
Stop the steal!
[Jordan]
I need full documentation
on all 63 measures.
[employee 3] Reinstating any
key measures for news pages.
[employee 2]
Do we disable comments
from high-risk groups?
-Yes!
-He posted again.
Is he telling them
to-to-to... um, to disperse?
[Jeff] "We judge the risk of
a fake positive
outweighs the benefits
of automation."
That's internal policy.
All right, so the risk of
incitement isn't as bad
as the risk of blowback
if they remove a post? Yeah?
Frances?
I'm locked out.
They did it an hour early.
[Jeff] It's okay.
We got it.
We got it.
Heaven help me.
What was that?
I'm going on the record.
[Jeff] You're tired.
-Use my name.
-No, you don't wanna do that.
This would all have more weight
if I wasn't anonymous, right?
When this happens, I tell
my sources to take 24 hours--
As soon as you publish,
they're going to narrow it
down to five people.
With this combination
of documents,
the way they trace it,
I cannot explain it
to you because...
-I'm stupid.
-...of how dumb you are,
but they are going to know
that it was me.
So it would have more weight
if it wasn't anonymous.
How many times have you
told me you love your job?
You gotta cause pain, right?
It's gotta hurt.
Take--
I don't need 24 hours.
Use my name, I'm on the record.
Zach, I'm taking dinner orders.
Broiled salmon
with a nice Dijonnaise.
Hamburger.
Uh, guys. [whistles]
Come here a second.
I-I want you to meet Frances.
That's Evelyn and Zach,
the interns
I was telling you about.
It's nice to see me-- see you.
Meet you.
I'm sorry. Between school
and the internship and...
-Him.
-Him. Yeah.
There hasn't been much sleep.
It turns out we ran
the same experiment as you.
The fake account,
fictional woman named Carol.
We got pretty much
the same result.
I'm being recruited by
the Idaho militia.
-[door opens]
-[Andy] We're in here.
Okay.
[Zach] Frances.
You're cool.
Uh, I think you're mistaken.
I'm not.
I'm pretty sure
I friended Carol.
Everybody, this is Fred.
Frances.
I'm Jeff's editor,
-Andy Butler.
-Hi, Andy.
-Christina McCann.
-Christina.
Tom Dash. Good to meet you.
Please.
[Andy] Thank you for coming
in to speak with us.
I understand you've been
working around the clock
for a while.
Yeah. It's like your interns.
I just need some sleep.
You need some lawyers.
Have you considered
seeking whistleblower status?
People don't hire
whistleblowers.
Her days in tech would be over.
Have you considered it?
-[Jeff] No.
-I have.
[Jeff] No. No, no, no.
It's one thing to go on
the record, but at least--
She's gonna get sued
into small pieces
if she doesn't get
protective status.
[Jeff] Well, to get
whistleblower protection
you'd need to testify
in front of a federal body.
Congress. In person.
You wanna do that?
-No.
-Right.
[Frances] But someone's
going to have to
explain all of this to them.
I had to explain it all to you.
A lot.
Someone is going to have to
explain all of this to them.
Christina, I--
I work for
The Wall Street Journal ,
so my cred as a free market
capitalist is solid,
and even I think this needs
government intervention.
Congress has to pass
some laws pronto.
You'd be testifying
on television, okay?
-There would be press.
-We're the press, Jeff.
And the Internet would have
its way with you, all right?
You'll be taken out
for a dance.
I know.
Sort of a fitting punishment.
Why do you need to be punished?
You spent the last year
telling me
to take some responsibility
for the code.
I was being manipulative.
She pays me to be.
-Not very much.
-Look, Frances--
I've already
spoken to Whistleblower Aid.
[Jeff] What?
-They're gonna set me up
with the SEC.
-Goddamn it!
Hey, guys, Frances and I
are gonna talk alone
for a minute.
[sighs]
Okay.
-[Christina] Hey.
-Yeah.
This reporting...
[clicks tongue]
[stammers] Your work on this...
You don't have to say
something nice.
-Great, thank you.
-Okay.
That nerd in there,
she's smarter than any of us.
[Jeff] Mmm.
She's gonna be fine.
[hopeful music playing]
This is what it looks like
when it's good.
Good job, boss.
[chuckles]
You guys should really go home.
You've probably got
a couple hundred documents.
We'll stay
and start indexing them.
Evelyn and Zach,
I have 21,323 documents.
[snorts, laughs]
[staff applauding]
-[knock at door]
-He's here.
Send him in and then stay.
-Jeff.
-Teddy.
-[Teddy] Yeah.
-Jeff Horwitz.
This whole meeting
is off the record.
[Jeff] Yeah.
Some day, huh?
As soon as the first protester
hit the first cop,
I texted my girlfriend
and told her I had to work late
because we're gonna
get blamed for this.
Mark wanted me
to give you a message.
-Okay.
-A few months ago,
Mark posted a picture
of himself riding a hydrofoil.
The New York Times
said he was riding
an electric surfboard
but he wasn't.
It was a hydrofoil.
Mark would like you
to get shit right.
I don't work
for The New York Times .
He meant in general.
That's the bad press that
he's worried about right now?
No, he's not worried
about that either.
Teddy, as we discussed
on the phone--
[Teddy] Frances Haugen
is your source.
It wasn't hard
to trace the footprints.
She didn't have many friends
around here.
I wonder if her motives
will get questioned.
As we discussed
on the phone, uh,
The Journal is going to publish
a series
of investigative pieces.
"The Facebook Files."
-[Jeff] Yeah.
-I hate alliteration.
We have a few questions
that we need you to respond to
in 72 hours.
[Teddy] You know you ruined
that girl's life.
When she gets up
in front of Congress,
that'll be the last time
anyone hears from her.
Maybe she'll get a job
in an Apple store.
Oh, she's gonna be fine.
No, she won't be.
And if that girl
didn't have immunity,
I'd walk her to prison.
Well, she does.
You know, she's gonna testify.
Congress to the rescue, that's
a pretty analog solution.
-Teddy--
-[Teddy] Jeff.
We're twice as big as
the biggest country on earth.
We're not frightened
of Congress.
We're post-government
around here.
Please, please,
let me quote that.
No.
Would it be better
if I came back tomorrow?
Give us a sense
of the questions.
Why did Facebook shut down
the Civic Integrity Team?
[sighs]
Go on.
Why did Facebook ignore
FBI warnings last year
-about QAnon being a threat...
-We didn't.
...so more than
three million people
were members
of QAnon Facebook groups?
-It's bullshit.
-My assistant.
[Jeff] Why did Facebook
algorithms promote content
that undermined the
country's pandemic response
with lies about vaccines?
[chuckling] Goddamn it.
Anything else?
[Jeff]
Just for my own curiosity,
does Facebook juice the
comments under Mark's posts?
You know, I think
we should do this tomorrow.
Yeah, that's no problem.
I'll, uh, arrange it
with your office.
But again, insurrection
or no insurrection,
you've got 72 hours.
[pensive music playing]
I don't know what that fucking
girl thinks she's doing.
She's disrupting.
[light clicks]
[senate aide] She's in here.
[organizer] All right,
main door's set to open.
Thanks.
You only have about a minute.
Good morning.
Good morning.
[pensive music playing]
Uh, you've been
in this room before?
Yeah, I have.
[Frances] They told me
this room was used for triage.
They brought
Capitol police officers here
on makeshift stretchers
after they'd been beaten
and tased.
They replaced the carpet 'cause
they couldn't shampoo
the blood out.
How are you feeling?
I'm okay.
Hey, no gloves.
I didn't wanna look
like a freak.
Before you go out there,
I wanna give you some advice.
Okay.
Try not to be mean
to the US Senate.
-Try not to call...
-I'm not mean.
...the Senate stupid
or make them cry.
[Frances]
I am a delightful person.
[Jeff] It'd be great
if you could just adopt...
Sure, I've called you stupid--
...a whole different
personality
for the duration
of this hearing.
Every instinct you have
tends to be wrong.
...how little you have,
you know, IQ-wise.
You don't look like a freak.
You're just really mean.
I'm not mean.
Like, scary mean.
[door opens]
[senate aide] It's time.
[no audible dialogue]
[rioters clamoring]
[chairman] Your testimony
before this committee
will be the truth,
the whole truth
and nothing but the truth.
[sweeping music playing]
[chattering on TV]
We should redeploy
the feed boost removals
with the October config.
Did you turn off
"break the glass"?
After Election Day.
The election was over.
Not this one.
[muffled shouting]
[rioter, muffled] Come on!
[employee] We need labels on
every post that attempts
to delegitimize the election.
[Raya] No ambiguity.
No soft language.
We have to say something like,
"The US
has laws and protocols."
He just posted a video.
Mark?
[Frances]
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman,
Madam Ranking Member
and members
of the subcommittee.
My name is Frances Haugen.
I used to work for Facebook.
I joined Facebook
because I believe
it has the potential
to bring out the best in us.
But I'm here today
because I believe
Facebook's products
harm children,
stoke division
and weaken our democracy.
[music continues]
[rioters shouting]
[Jordan]
He just posted another video.
Take it down.
This is not a simple matter
of certain social media users
being angry or unstable,
or about one side being
radicalized against the other.
It's about Facebook
choosing to grow at all costs,
buying its profits
with our health and safety.
[all clamoring]
Raya, you need to get
the M-team
started on talking points.
[scoffs] Sure.
Any suggestions, Brendan?
During my time at Facebook,
I came to realize
a devastating truth.
Almost no one
outside of Facebook
knows what happens
inside of Facebook.
The documents
I've provided to Congress
prove that Facebook has
repeatedly misled the public
about what
its own research reveals.
About the safety of children,
about the efficacy
of its artificial intelligence
systems,
and its role
in spreading divisive
and extreme messages.
[Raya] You've got to say
something, Mark.
You've got to say something.
Take it down.
Facebook wants you
to believe in a false choice,
that you must choose
between extreme
and divisive content
or losing one of
the most important values
our country was founded on:
free speech.
[clamoring continues]
When we realized Big Tobacco
was hiding the harms it caused,
the government took action.
[rioter] Get his fucking gun!
[Frances] When we figured out
cars were safer
with seat belts,
the government took action.
And when we learned that
opioids were taking lives,
the government took action.
I implore you...
take action.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'm now happy
to answer your questions.
[pensive music playing]
[chairman] The Committee
thanks the witness,
and we stand adjourned.
[gavel striking]
[people chattering]
[music continues]
[chuckles]
[triumphant music playing]
[intriguing music playing]
[dramatic music playing]
[gentle music playing]
[music ends]