Whistleblower Criticizes Facebook Meta-Rebranding
Whistleblower Frances Haugen posted a scathing criticism of Facebook’s ‘Meta’ rebrand on Monday, accusing the company of once again prioritizing expansion over personal safety.
The former Facebook engineer, who leaked a host of internal documents that sparked weeks of criticism of the social media giant, also urged its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, to resign.
At the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon, Haugen said it was ‘unacceptable’ for Facebook to tout its ambitions to develop the ‘Metaverse’, a virtual reality version of the Internet, rather than focus on solving existing problems.
“Facebook continues to choose to expand into new areas rather than stick with what it has already done,” she told tens of thousands of people in the Portuguese capital.
“Instead of investing to ensure that their platforms offer a minimum level of security, they will invest 10,000 engineers in video games.”
Facebook announced last month that it would hire 10,000 new employees in Europe over the next five years with the goal of creating the metaverse that would use virtual reality to create online experiences, like chatting with a friend or attending a concert, to feel personally face deal with it.
The company announced last week that it would change the name of Facebook’s parent company to “Meta” to signal its focus.
Critics have scoffed at the rebrand as an attempt to distract from the spate of damaging disclosures from Haugen’s leaked documents.
Facebook documents show that business leaders were aware of the potential damage their websites could cause on many fronts, including the uncontrolled spread of hate speech in developing countries, as well as the impact of Instagram on the mental health of people. youths.
Haugen accused Facebook of ignoring the concerns of its own employees in the pursuit of profit.
‘Smash’
When asked if Zuckerberg should resign, she replied, “I think Facebook would be stronger with someone willing to focus on security, so yes.”
She continued, “It doesn’t make you a bad person to have made mistakes, but it is unacceptable to keep making the same mistakes after knowing that they are mistakes.”
Haugen has testified before US and British lawmakers in recent weeks, but the Web Summit, which she officially opened with an explosion of confetti falling from the ceiling, was her first appearance in front of a wider audience.
She said it was “overwhelming” to speak in front of so many people and told the crowd, “Right now, my heart is beating as fast as I can imagine.”
Facebook VP Nick Clegg, who will speak at the web summit on Tuesday, will likely reject Haugen’s suggestion that the Metaverse project is a massive investment in “video games.”
Zuckerberg ran a very teasing promo last week on what the actually playful Metaverse might look and feel like with flying koi fish and a robot card game.
However, Silicon Valley enthusiasts believe that the Metaverse could represent the next great leap in the evolution of the Internet, which could ultimately seamlessly merge the digital world with the physical world, creating a host of new economic opportunities.
The Metaverse is the subject of many events at this year’s Web Summit, which runs through Thursday.
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“I think part of the discussion will be, ‘How much of a buzz is this and how real is it?'” Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave told AFP.
Around 40,000 participants travel to the specialist conference in Portugal, all with a negative vaccination test or PCR, as part of a return test to mass events.
Organizers praised host country Portugal for having one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.
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