Frances Haugen aims to motivate more whistleblowers with The Social Reckoning.
Frances Haugen, known for her role as a whistleblower, had an interesting experience watching actress Mikey Madison portray a character inspired by her in The Social Reckoning. The only aspect that caught her off guard? The wrist warmers. In Aaron Sorkin’s latest thriller, the fictional version of Haugen, who leaks a trove of documents to a reporter, sports these accessories as a nod to her real-life struggle with a vasoconstrictive disorder. Haugen reflected on this quirk, saying, “I’ve figured out lots of ways to minimize how much of an obstruction this is. But having to watch myself wear wrist warmers for two hours, I came out of it being like, ‘Oh my god, this is really disruptive. Like, how have I successfully not thought about this for like seven years?’” With the film hitting theaters soon, she hopes Meta’s CEO will have a moment of self-reflection while watching the portrayal of a cold, robotic character played by Jeremy Strong. “I hope Mark Zuckerberg watches the movie and has as much of a knee-jerk emotional response as I had on that regarding, ‘Do I really want to live this life anymore?’”
In the film, Strong’s Zuckerberg is weary of the backlash over content moderation and fact-checking as he gears up for congressional testimony, dismissing concerns about design choices that could incite anger on the platform. Haugen notes, “It’s very possible that Mark has learned to not see how distorted his world has become. My hope is that holding that mirror up, if he does ever watch the movie, that it gives him the gift of perspective, so he at least has a chance to choose.”
Five years after revealing her identity as the whistleblower behind the Facebook Files, Haugen aims for the film to remind audiences of the extensive information she uncovered and to “humanize the whistleblowing experience.” While she acknowledges her mother might have issues with Madison’s portrayal being shorter and less blonde, she appreciates that the fictional Haugen is distinct from her. “We want as many people as possible to see themselves in Mikey’s character,” she explains. If someone at a cutting-edge AI lab finds themselves in a position to blow the whistle, she hopes they’ll resonate with the fictional Haugen and feel a sense of duty to act.
One of Haugen’s significant contributions was providing evidence for lawsuits claiming Meta harmed young users, leading to a $17 billion settlement earlier this year. However, as the film highlights, child safety wasn’t her primary motivation. In fact, documents regarding Instagram’s effects on teens were among the last she gathered before resigning, as she feared venturing too far outside her expertise would raise red flags. “The collective memory of ‘What exactly was I complaining about?’ has shifted,” she states. “Only about 10 percent of what I brought out was about kids.”
She points out that revelations about the algorithm steering users toward extremist groups and special privileges for elite users have “kind of disappeared into time.” Meta has refrained from commenting on the film but has previously claimed that the documents Haugen shared were selectively chosen and oversimplified the tough decisions the company faces.
Despite this, Haugen has remained active in discussions about social media policy, particularly in Europe and Australia, where there seems to be more momentum for change than in the U.S. While she doesn’t advocate for a complete ban on social media for youth, she believes Australia’s youth social media ban prompted Meta to introduce what she calls “yeah, duh” features for safety. “I don’t think the first line of defense is you ban kids off social media,” she argues. “But the problem is that platforms have shown repeatedly that they’re not particularly interested in making these spaces safe for kids, and Facebook particularly has shown they only improve safety for kids when they’re scared.”
Meta has recently attempted to silence another whistleblower, former public policy director Sarah Wynn-Williams, by taking legal action to prevent her from promoting her memoir. Haugen views Meta’s actions against Wynn-Williams as an “outlier,” noting that her narrative relies more on personal experience than the extensive documentation Haugen provided. In the film, there’s a moment where the reporter character tells Haugen’s character, “You didn’t give me evidence, you gave me a story.” Haugen believes that because much of Wynn-Williams’ account hinges on her credibility, Meta is eager to prevent anyone else with similar insights from coming forward.
As excitement around artificial intelligence grows in Silicon Valley, Haugen observes that discussions about industry regulation and public dissent are progressing more rapidly in AI than they did with social media. While she finds some proposals “simplistic or misdirected,” like calls for a development pause, she’s encouraged by the increased engagement compared to four years ago in the social media space.
Reflecting on her decision to go public as a whistleblower, Haugen describes her approach as fairly dispassionate. She recognized the potential financial repercussions from Meta but didn’t let that concern her too much. “I’m a Quaker and I don’t take a lot to be very content and happy,” she shares. “They can only take as much from you as you let them.”
