Meta’s growth faces a public-image test as Zuckerberg film reaches US theaters

Meta is facing fresh scrutiny of founder Mark Zuckerberg as The Social Reckoning reaches US theaters on Friday, October 9. The film’s release follows a second quarter in which Meta reported higher revenue and app use, but those figures, for the period ending June 30, cannot show whether the film or criticism of the company has affected its business.

An Associated Press review says the Sony Pictures film follows the reporting by journalist Jeff Horwitz that became The Facebook Files. Its story ends in 2021, a distinction that matters when comparing the events depicted on screen with Meta’s current performance. The review describes the release as a major studio film about a conflict with a powerful figure; it offers no measure of what audiences will think or do after seeing it.

What Meta’s latest figures show

Meta reported $60.80 billion in revenue for the second quarter of 2026, up 28% from the same quarter a year earlier. In its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company attributed the increase to advertising revenue. These are results from before the film’s October release, so they provide a baseline for Meta’s business rather than a test of its response to the film.

The company said the number of ads displayed across its family of apps rose 14% from a year earlier, while the average price per ad rose 12%. Meta reported impression growth in every region, particularly Asia-Pacific. It attributed higher average ad prices to advertising demand, improvements in ad performance from targeting and measurement tools, and favorable currency effects.

Meta estimated that an average of 3.60 billion people used at least one of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger or WhatsApp on a day in June 2026. That was 3% higher than its estimate for June 2025. The company calls this measure family daily active people; it is intended to count a person with multiple accounts once rather than count each account separately.

The filing cautions that this user figure is an estimate drawn from internal account activity. Meta says measurement is difficult and its estimate may differ from figures produced by third parties. The reported increase therefore describes Meta’s own measure of use, with the limitations the company sets out; it is not an independently audited count of people who approve of the company or its founder.

Revenue growth alongside rising legal costs

Higher revenue did not produce higher operating income in the quarter. Meta reported operating income of $18.78 billion, down 8% from a year earlier. It cited higher costs and expenses, including employee compensation, infrastructure, legal-related costs and payments for third-party AI tokens. The figures show why a growing advertising business and pressure on profit can appear in the same set of results.

General and administrative expenses rose 111% year over year, Meta said, primarily because it recorded $2.40 billion in charges related to legal proceedings during the quarter. That is a specific cost disclosed by the company, although the filing does not establish that the film, or any particular change in public opinion, caused it. Meta separately lists legal proceedings and reputational concerns among risks to its business.

The BBC reports that Meta disputes or is appealing verdicts and claims in several cases concerning young users and social-media safety. Those proceedings have different procedural statuses. Their existence and Meta’s disclosed legal charges add context to the company’s costs, but an appealed verdict should not be described as a final resolution, and the filing does not assign the quarter’s charges to the film.

What the film cannot yet tell us about Meta

The Social Reckoning’s arrival puts an account of earlier reporting about Meta before a new audience. AP notes that its narrative stops in 2021, while the BBC’s October 8 report examines Zuckerberg’s image alongside the company’s more recent business performance. The two timelines should be kept separate: a film about past events is a new cultural release, while the latest filed quarterly results cover April through June 2026.

Meta’s filing names reputation, legal and regulatory matters, privacy, competition and user retention as risks that could affect its business. A risk disclosure does not say that any one of those concerns has already reduced revenue or use. Equally, growth through June does not establish that future criticism will leave the company unaffected. The available figures support a narrower conclusion: Meta entered this film release with growing advertising revenue and reported app use, alongside lower operating income and substantial legal-related charges.