Facebook parent Meta Platforms has officially changed its ticker to “META” to reflect its new focus on the metaverse.
The step is in line with the company’s effort to shed traces of its old name.
Meta’s rebrand comes in the light of contentious circumstances.
In October 2021, Facebook announced it would become Meta weeks after whistleblower Frances Haugen’s bombshell allegations hit the news.
Haugen, a former product manager at the company, said that Facebook knew the extent to which its platforms were used to spread disinformation and hate, and chose to do nothing, prioritizing its profits.
Similarly, in 2018, a whistleblower revealed that Facebook allowed British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to improperly collect its users’ data, ultimately weaponizing that information in political advertising.
In another developmemt, Meta’s longtime COO Sheryl Sandberg said last week she’d be stepping down this fall.
Sandberg, who pioneered the company’s ads model, was a key figure in Facebook’s rise — and, by extension, has attracted scrutiny in the social media giant’s scandals, too.
Sandberg will be replaced by Javier Oliván, who’s currently Meta’s Chief Growth Officer and has been with the company for more than 14 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
