Aaron Sorkin says he blames Facebook for Jan. 6, has movie in the works
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(The Hill) — Writer and director Aaron Sorkin revealed during a live interview Thursday in Washington that he blames Facebook and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Sorkin, who created the film “The Social Network,” which depicted Zuckerberg’s rise to fame and the creation of the social media platform, also mentioned he was creating a new movie about how Facebook contributed to the Jan. 6 attack.
“Look, yeah, I’ll be writing about this — I blame Facebook for January 6th,” Sorkin told reporter Matt Belloni during an appearance on podcast “The Town.”
Belloni questioned Sorkin and asked him to explain why.
“You’re going to need to buy a movie ticket,” Sorkin replied.
He later clarified he believes Facebook has been perfecting its algorithm to promote content that divides people “because that is what will increase engagement.”
“That is what will get you to what they call inside the hallways of Facebook, the ‘infinite scroll,’” he said.
Belloni asked who should be responsible for the divisive nature of social platforms, in particular, Facebook. Sorkin plainly said he thinks Zuckerberg should be responsible for how much his platform has divided Americans.
“There is supposed to be a constant tension at Facebook between growth and integrity. There isn’t. It’s just growth,” Sorkin said. “So, if Mark Zuckerberg woke up tomorrow morning and realized that there is nothing you can buy for $120 billion that you can’t buy for $119 billion, so ‘how about if I make a little less money? I will tune up integrity and tune down growth.’”
“Yes, you can do that by honestly switching a one to a zero and a zero to a one,” he continued.
As for how the news media has handled former President Trump’s divisiveness, Sorkin said he appreciates that more organizations have an emphasis on fact-checking him.
“Clearly, an effort is being made to not repeat the mistakes of 2016 and 2020. That you don’t have to cover every move he makes, that you should fact-check the statements he’s making. I appreciate that,” Sorkin told Belloni.
