In 2021, Facebook’s polished blue façade developed a very public crack. Former employee Frances Haugen released thousands of internal documents and testified before Congress as lawmakers examined what Facebook knew about harms involving young users, algorithms, privacy, and divisive content.  

Five years later, those anxieties feel firmly embedded in a world governed by feeds, data trails, and recommendation engines. Aaron Sorkin has turned that reckoning into The Social Reckoning, with Jeremy Allen White playing journalist Jeff Horwitz.

At the film’s premiere, White made his own position clear: Big Tech needs outside regulation.

Jeremy Allen White wants safeguards around Big Tech

Speaking to Variety at The Social Reckoning premiere, Jeremy Allen White addressed the urgency surrounding a film based on events that led to The Wall Street Journal’s Facebook Files investigation.

“It feels incredibly important. Look there needs to be safeguards in place,” he said. The actor then moved from the movie’s warning signs toward a possible real-world response.

“In my mind. I think third party regulation for a lot of these big tech companies might be a good idea.” he told Variety. The original investigation raised questions about Facebook’s awareness of problems affecting young users and the spread of harmful content, while Haugen’s testimony fueled calls for greater accountability.

In the movie, Mikey Madison plays whistleblower Frances Haugen, who works with White’s Jeff Horwitz to expose Facebook’s closely guarded internal information. The Social Reckoning arrives in theaters on October 9, with Jeremy Strong playing Mark Zuckerberg alongside Madison, White, Bill Burr, Betty Gilpin, and Billy Magnussen. 

Yet one familiar face from The Social Network will be conspicuously absent when Sorkin returns to Facebook’s world.

Why Jesse Eisenberg passed on The Social Reckoning

Jesse Eisenberg earned an Oscar nomination playing Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, so his absence from the follow-up immediately raised questions. Sorkin originally expected him back. In fact, the filmmaker recently told Entertainment Weekly that “it never occurred” to him that Eisenberg might decline, recalling that he had even warned the actor that a new script was coming. 

Eisenberg ultimately decided that revisiting Zuckerberg no longer fit where he wanted to go personally or professionally. He told Variety that he was moving in different directions and explained that he no longer wanted to be associated with the character, while making clear that his decision was unrelated to the quality of Sorkin’s film. 

That opened the door for Jeremy Strong to inherit the role. The Social Reckoning consequently arrives with a new Zuckerberg and a story focused on what Facebook became long after the dorm-room origins depicted in The Social Network. 

What do you think about Jeremy Allen White calling for third-party regulation of major tech companies? Let us know in the comments.