Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is set for another unflattering portrayal, 16 years after Jesse Eisenberg played him in the Oscar-winning “The Social Network”.

“The Social Reckoning”, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, hits international screens from Wednesday and examines Facebook’s role in spreading hate speech, political polarisation and undermining democracy.

The film centres on whistleblower Frances Haugen, played by Mikey Madison, and Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, portrayed by Jeremy Allen White. The pair were behind the 2021 “Facebook Files”, which exposed the company’s internal research and practices.

Zuckerberg, played by “Succession” star Jeremy Strong, is the film’s central figure.

“This is a whistleblower story. It’s a newspaper story,” Sorkin told AFP.

Unlike “The Social Network”, Sorkin said he does not try to understand Zuckerberg’s motives in the new film.

The story focuses on Facebook’s decision not to fact-check political advertisements ahead of the 2020 US election, followed by Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the result and the January 2021 Capitol attack.

From outsider to tech overlord

“The Social Network”, directed by David Fincher, portrayed Zuckerberg as a socially awkward Harvard student who created Facebook after feeling excluded from the university’s social hierarchy. The film won three Oscars.

Sorkin said Zuckerberg “created his own cool kids table, which he’s now the mayor of”.

“The Social Reckoning” instead focuses on the now 42-year-old Zuckerberg’s leadership of Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Jeremy Strong said he emailed Zuckerberg before taking on the role, telling him he was approaching it “very seriously” and “with respect”. He did not reveal whether Zuckerberg responded.

Tech billionaires on screen

The film comes as Silicon Valley billionaires increasingly become subjects of Hollywood productions.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s planned biopic “Artificial” was dropped by Amazon MGM Studios before being picked up by independent distributor Neon. Elon Musk has also inspired fictional and documentary portrayals, while Jesse Armstrong’s HBO film “Mountainhead” depicted tech billionaires as villains.

Sorkin’s script underwent extensive legal review at Sony Pictures, given Zuckerberg’s wealth and legal resources. Sorkin also reshot two scenes but denied legal concerns were responsible.