What you need to know:
Aaron Sorkin, writer of the 2010 film, is already working on a film about the 2021 attack on the Capitol and the role of networks like Facebook in the midst of all that.
Although 14 years have passed since its premiere, the idea of a sequel The Social Network has not been lost at all. Aaron Sorkin, writer of the film, said in a 2019 interview that he was ready for a project like that due to the importance and growth that Facebook has had in recent years as an influential company of the internet age.
But it is clear that, in that sense, social networks also have their controversial passages, perhaps even more than what was captured in that 2010 film starring Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield. That said, it is not strange that the director of films like The Trial of the Chicago 7 see potential in a sequel… But what would be its central theme?
A sequel to ‘The Social Network’ focused on the 2021 attack on the US Capitol?
In recent days, Aaron Sorkin gave an interview on the podcast The Town and revealed that he is writing in a sequel to The Social Networkbut focused on the impact that Facebook had on the attacks on the Capitol in January 2021.
“I blame Facebook for the January 6 attacks… I am trying to [escribir una película sobre esto]. Facebook has been, among other things, adjusting its algorithm to promote the most divisive material possible“said the screenwriter.
According to Aaron Sorkin, the alleged promotion of divisive material incentivized by Facebook’s algorithm leads to people are immersed in the ‘infinite scroll’. That is, these sites and web platforms where we move around and consume information of all kinds without there being an end to the road.
And in addition to this, the director mentioned that Zuckerberg – in general terms – has prioritized the growth of their social network and their profits over integrity. The issue here is whether there could be a sequel to The Social Network with part of the team that made the 2010 film.
By this, we refer to the disposition of people like the director David Fincher and Jesse Eisenberg, who played Mark Zuckerberg in the aforementioned film. While the actor has been open to the possibility, the filmmaker is not so convinced of the idea. Will Sorkin be able to convince him?
The attacks on the Capitol and the involvement of social networks
And many will wonder, why focus on the sequel The Social Network in the attacks on the Capitol on January 6, 2021? Well, as El País indicates, both Mark Zuckerberg and the CEOs of Google and the then Twitter admitted that their platforms were substantial for people to organized the assault on the building in Washington.
Broadly speaking, technology magnates were singled out for not regulating the circulation of false information. Let us remember that during the months of the campaign prior to the vote, it circulated strongly on networks the idea of electoral fraud that would give the presidential chair to the Democrats.
Of course, That idea of fraud was encouraged by Donald Trumpand his most radical followers spread it by promoting misinformation.
After the results of the election that gave the US Presidency to Joe Bien were announced, Trump replicated the speech of an alleged fraud and in the last days of 2020, his network accounts They called on supporters to protest at the Capitol. “It will be wild”said a tweet from the now former president.
Unfortunately, right-wing extremist groups violently took over the Capitol. Trump himself had to use his social networks to ask that the demonstration be held peacefully, after seeing that things had gotten out of control after his first call tweet.
Five people lost their lives and eventually, Social media platforms suspended Donald Trump’s accounts…So if there is a sequel to The Social Network, that would be the context in which it would develop. We’ll see what happens with Aaron Sorkin’s idea.
