Facebook renames itself Meta amid scrutiny | Local News

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said his company is renaming itself Meta in an effort to encompass its vision for virtual reality for the future, what Zuckerberg calls the “metaverse.”

Skeptics point out that this also appears to be an attempt to change the subject of the Facebook Papers, a leaked trove of documents that revealed how Facebook ignored internal reports and warnings about the damage created or amplified by its social network across the world. .

Zuckerberg says he expects the Metaverse to reach a billion people over the next decade. The metaverse, he says, will be a place for people to interact, work, and create products and content in what he hopes will be a new ecosystem that will create “millions” of jobs for creators.

The announcement comes amid an existential crisis for Facebook. It is under legislative and regulatory scrutiny in many parts of the world following disclosures in the Facebook Papers.

Explaining the rebranding, Zuckerberg said the name “Facebook” no longer encompasses “everything we do”. In addition to its main social network, which now includes Instagram, Messenger, its Quest VR headset, its Horizon VR platform and more.