First published 2020
Facebook once stood as Silicon Valley's crown jewel. New York Times reporters Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang reveal how the social media giant systematically prioritized growth over user safety. The authors document five years of mounting scandals, from data misuse to the spread of conspiracy theories and hate speech. They show how company engineers built tools designed to maximize user engagement, even when these same features amplified dangerous content. While public attention focused on privacy violations and misinformation, Facebook continued mining user data and posting record profits. The reporters trace how leadership decisions by Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg enabled these problems, then attempted to deflect blame. Through exclusive reporting and insider access, they expose the internal politics and rivalries that shaped company responses to each crisis. Their investigation reveals these failures were not accidents but inevitable outcomes of Facebook's business model and leadership approach.
Genres: business, non-fiction, 21st-century, current-affairs
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: corporate-corruption, whistleblower
Setting: Silicon Valley
Period: 2010s
333 pages · Hardcover · Harper