(Lisbon) Facebook, accused of putting its profits before the well-being of its users, must invest in “security” before “metaverse”, a new priority of the group now called Meta, lambasted the whistleblower and former employee of the American company Frances Haugen, Monday in Lisbon.
“Again and again, Facebook chooses to expand into new areas rather than sticking to what it has already done. I find that unacceptable… We must devote more resources to basic security systems, ”she declared at the opening of the Web Summit, the high mass of the digital economy, in Lisbon.
“Instead of investing to ensure that their platforms are a minimum safe, they are about to (hire) 10,000 engineers” in Europe for the development of the “metaverse”, she added. of the parallel digital world which represents, according to the boss of Facebook, the future of the internet. “I can’t imagine how that could make sense,” she said again.
After presenting the concept of “metaverse”, Mark Zuckerberg announced Thursday that the parent company of the social media giant is now called “Meta” – “beyond” in ancient Greek. The names of the various services (Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.) will however remain unchanged.
This name change is interpreted as a distraction maneuver by critics of the Californian group, entangled in scandals and controversies, from disinformation to data confidentiality and respect for competition law.
FACEBOOK PHOTO, VIA REUTERS
After presenting the concept of “metaverse”, Mark Zuckerberg announced Thursday that the parent company of the social media giant is now called “Meta”.
The “Facebook papers”, thousands of internal documents submitted to the US Stock Exchange Authority (SEC) by Frances Haugen, show how the Californian group was aware of the potential for nuisance of its social networks – toxic content on Instagram for teenagers, disinformation which harms democracy… – but has chosen, in part, to ignore them, for the sake of preserving its profits.
Frances Haugen has previously testified before US and UK lawmakers, but the Web Summit marks her first appearance before a larger audience.
Facebook will have the opportunity to respond to criticism in front of the Web Summit audience, with vice president Nick Clegg scheduled for Tuesday and product manager Chris Cox on Wednesday.
After experiencing a 100% virtual edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Web Summit is back in physics in Lisbon, where it hopes to bring together 40,000 participants until November 4.