Facebook has responded to the popular Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, and the company doesn’t seem happy with how the film portrayed it and other social media platforms. The Social Dilemma’s breakdown of the various negative side-effects of social media proliferation on mental health, privacy, politics, and more has been a hot topic since the film’s release. In an official statement, Facebook has criticized the documentary for over-simplifying and falsely portraying many of these issues in the interest of “sensationalism.”

The dangers of social media are not new or newly discovered by any means. But the particular style and approach of The Social Dilemma introduced a new level of urgency to the conversation. In a year when mental health has been a particularly visible concern, and the present dangers of hate groups and misinformation have been made eminently clear, online users have been more active in calling out mass-media companies like Facebook for being more active and responsible for the effects of their business.

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In an official release on the company’s website, Facebook has made a brief but detailed reply to their portrayal in The Social Dilemma. The statement begins by claiming, “We should have conversations about the impact of social media on our lives. But ‘The Social Dilemma’ buries the substance in sensationalism.” It then goes on to discuss seven points of disagreement: “Addiction,” “You are not the product,” “Algorithms,” “Data,” “Polarization,” “Elections,” and “Misinformation.” Each section includes some statistics and outlines recent efforts by Facebook to fix or combat each area where they have been accused of being negligent or complicit. You can read their full Opening below:

“Rather than offer a nuanced look at technology, it gives a distorted view of how social media platforms work to create a convenient scapegoat for what are difficult and complex societal problems. The film’s creators do not include insights from those currently working at the companies or any experts that take a different view to the narrative put forward by the film. They also don’t acknowledge—critically or otherwise—the efforts already taken by companies to address many of the issues they raise. Instead, they rely on commentary from those who haven’t been on the inside for many years. Here are the core points the film gets wrong.”

Skyler Gisondo as Ben in The Social Dilemma

This is not the first time a Netflix documentary has been charged with over-sensationalizing its subject matter. Despite serving the apparent purpose of bringing attention and forcing action on animal rights, the hit series Tiger King was similarly criticized earlier this year for almost glamorizing a cast of criminals and abusive men in the interest of drama. It’s natural then that The Social Dilemma would come under similar scrutiny.

However, it’s also obvious why Facebook would take issue with any negative portrayal of its services, regardless of the accuracy or intent. The opening line that “We should have conversations about the impact of social media” seems almost flippant given the scale of complaints that have been leveraged against the company in recent years. And while the list of policy changes outlined in the statement are all moves in the right direction, they also prove that call-outs are often necessary to push such corporations to change. Netflix, of course, is one of those corporations as well. The Social Dilemma is currently streaming.

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Source: Facebook