FACEBOOK UNVEILS NEW NAME

The Facebook company has announced a change of name to ‘Meta’ by pulling down a curtain draped over its iconic ‘Like’ sign outside its Silicon Valley headquarters Thursday.

The disclosure was made at the Facebook Connect augmented and virtual reality conference, the new feature includes a new logo depicting a blue infinity symbol and refers to the ‘metaverse’, the company’s new focus to expand beyond its social media apps.

The announcement was made following an ongoing scandal with regards to a whistleblower, Frances Haugen, who leaked documents and bombshell claims that the company ‘puts profits over people.’

The parent company, Facebook Inc, that also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, will go under the new title while the firm’s original, flagship social media site and app – Facebook – will retain its name.

Mark Zuckerburg said: ‘Our mission remains the same, it’s still about bringing people together,’ he said, adding, ‘Now we have a new North Star to help bring the metaverse to life.’
He added that the word means ‘beyond’ in Greek and symbolizes that there is ‘always more to build’ and ‘always a next chapter in the story.’

‘I believe the metaverse is the next chapter of the Internet and it’s the next chapter of our company too,’ he said, adding, ‘While most etch companies focus on how people could connect to technology, we focus on building technology so people could connect with each other.’
Prior to the leaked documents from Haugen, last Monday. U.S. officials announced Facebook Inc had agreed to pay pay up to $14.25 million to settle civil claims by the government that the company discriminated against American workers and violated federal recruitment rules.

And last Tuesday in the U.K., the company was fined £50.5 million ($70 million) after failing to provide enough important information to the competition regulator investigating the firm’s takeover of GIF sharing platform Giphy.

Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a probe into the acquisition in June last year, shortly after the deal was announced, over concerns about a ‘substantial lessening of competition.’

Facebook responded to the fine, saying: ‘We strongly disagree with the CMA’s unfair decision to punish Facebook for a best effort compliance approach, which the CMA itself ultimately approved. We will review the CMA’s decision and consider our options.’

Facebook has also admitted that users can share information about how to enter countries illegally and about people smuggled on its social media platforms.

The admission comes as Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich urged the Department of Justice and US Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the social media giant over its ‘facilitation’ of illegal migration into the United States.

Zuckerberg paid no notice to any of the scandals or Facebook papers, but was very particular about Meta’s goals going forward.

Facebook announced on Sunday that it was hiring 10,000 people in Europe to build the metaverse out.