Whistleblower Films as Scapegoat Theater

Dramatized accounts of platform whistleblowers (film, TV, prestige journalism) often center individual moral crises and sensational scenes rather than systemic failures, creating a cathartic narrative that comforts audiences without producing policy fixes or governance reform. Those dramatizations can change where public outrage is aimed and reduce pressure on institutions responsible for structural change. — If media spectacle displaces structural remedies, policymakers and the public may misallocate attention and fail to build durable oversight of major tech platforms.