Facebook renames itself Meta

Facebook has changed the name of its parent company to Meta, as it shifts its focus to building a virtual reality world known as the metaverse.

The company's founder and chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, announced the new name at a company conference on 28 October. The Facebook app, Instagram and WhatsApp will keep their names.

The metaverse

Zuckerberg says the metaverse will be the next stage of the internet, a shared online space where people can meet, work and play as avatars, using virtual reality headsets and augmented reality glasses.

He said the company's mission would be to help bring the metaverse to life, and that it would be a "metaverse-first" company rather than "Facebook-first". The company already owns Oculus, which makes virtual reality headsets.

Facebook said last week that it plans to hire 10,000 people in the European Union over the next five years to help build the metaverse.

A troubled time

The rebranding comes at a difficult time for the company. It is facing intense criticism after a former employee, Frances Haugen, leaked thousands of internal documents.

The documents suggest the company knew its platforms could harm some users, including teenage girls who use Instagram, and struggled to control hate speech and misinformation. Haugen has given evidence to the American Congress and to MPs in London.

Facebook says the documents have been taken out of context and misrepresent its work.

Critics say the name change is an attempt to distract from these problems. Zuckerberg says it reflects the company's long-term plans.

Regulation

Governments around the world are considering tougher rules for social media companies. In Britain, the government is preparing an Online Safety Bill that would place a duty of care on companies to protect users from harmful content.

Will it work?

The metaverse is still largely an idea, and it is not clear how many people will want to spend time in virtual worlds. Virtual reality headsets are still a niche product, and many of the technologies needed are years away.

Other technology companies, including Microsoft, are also investing in the idea.

The company's shares will trade under a new ticker symbol, MVRS, from December.