On October 28, Facebook (Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced at the Facebook Connect conference that Facebook will be renamed "Meta", and the new name comes from "Metaverse" (Metaverse).
However, many experts are sceptical about the effectiveness of Facebook's move. They argued that even if Facebook changed its name, it would not be able to cover up the company's problems.
According to a previous report by Red Star News, on October 20, local time, the U.S. District of Columbia Attorney General Racine formally sued Facebook founder Zuckerberg, saying that he needed to take personal responsibility for the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal. According to foreign media analysis, it is undeniable that since the scandal of leaking a large number of users' private information in 2018, Facebook has been "deeply mired in the quagmire and unable to extricate itself".
On the same day, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced it would fine Facebook nearly $7 million for failing to provide required updates. The CMA said it had repeatedly warned Facebook to provide the necessary information and believed the company's "non-compliance was deliberate". "This is a warning to any company that thinks it's above the law," said Joel Bamford, senior director of mergers and acquisitions at the CMA.
Not long ago, Frances Haugen, a former employee of the company known as the "whistleblower", leaked thousands of pages of internal Facebook documents to the Wall Street Journal, accusing the company of inciting the company's "interest first" principle. A series of behaviors that disregard public interests, such as splitting, destroying democracy, and damaging the mental health of young users. Subsequently, the U.S. Congress held hearings on the documents.
American media pointed out that another benefit of Facebook's name change may be that Zuckerberg can "get out of the shell" from a series of legal disputes.
The American media even directly stated in the comment article, "Who do they think they are fooling?" The article stated that nearly 3 billion Facebook users around the world are well aware of the company's "failures" - privacy issues, false information, Controversies such as hate speech, racism, and political fraud are "faking deafness".
Critics have slammed Facebook's rebranding, with an activist group calling itself "The Real Facebook Oversight Board" accusing it of undermining democracy while spreading disinformation and hate.
"Their senseless name change should not distract from the investigation, regulation and genuine independent oversight needed to hold Facebook accountable," the group said in a statement.