Meta

Meta Platforms, Inc., formerly known as Facebook, is a multinational technology conglomerate primarily known for its social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook quickly grew into one of the largest social networks in the world. Over the years, the company has expanded its business model, incorporating advertising, data collection, and virtual reality products, with a focus on connecting users globally.

In 2021, Facebook rebranded itself as Meta, signaling its shift toward a broader vision focused on the "metaverse"—a virtual reality, interconnected digital world. Meta has faced ongoing scrutiny over issues related to consumer privacy, data security, content moderation, and its role in spreading misinformation. The company has been involved in several high-profile regulatory and legal challenges, particularly regarding its handling of user data and its impact on user well-being.

Meta Oculus VR

Oculus VR Facebook Account Requirement

In 2014, Meta acquired Oculus VR for approximately $2 billion, which was known for developing the Oculus Rift and other Virtual Reality (VR) products. Before the acquisition, users could create and use Oculus accounts to access their VR content. This allowed users more control over their privacy and data, without needing to use Facebook.

After being purchased by Meta In October 2020, Oculus Quest and Rift S users were required to sign in with a Facebook account in order to continue to use their purchased VR headsets. This forced integration of Facebook accounts with Oculus devices created several issues for users, particularly those who preferred to keep their VR experience separate from social media.

Because Oculus headsets were now tied to Facebook accounts, users who had their Facebook profiles suspended for any reason found themselves unable to access their purchased content, including games and apps, and unable to use their devices. Meta offered no options for Oculus VR users aside from to go through Facebook's moderation process to attempt to regain access to their accounts.

Additionally, Oculus account holders who did not want to link to Facebook risked losing access to their purchases entirely. If they did not migrate to a Facebook account, they would no longer be able to use their Oculus headsets or access any content they had purchased from the Oculus Store.

In August 2022, following public backlash, Meta reversed the policy, allowing users to sign in with a new "Meta account" instead of a Facebook account. This, however, did not stop several original Oculus accounts from being deleted or suspended Facebook users being locked out of their headsets for two years.

Echo VR Shutdown and Ready At Dawn

Echo VR was a VR e-sports title centered around zero-gravity physics, developed by Ready At Dawn Studios. The game released on July 20th, 2017 on the Oculus Rift store, before being ported over to the Meta Quest platform (formerly the Oculus Quest platform) on May 5th, 2020.

Ready At Dawn Studios was a game developer most notably known for creating the original God of War series and Daxter. They were acquired by Oculus Studios, an umbrella organization of Meta, on June of 2020.

On January 31st, 2023, Ready At Dawn announced that Echo VR would be shut down on August 1st of that year. They claimed in a blog post that the reason was them "consolidating studio support" to work on their next project, as well as confirming that players who had spent money on in-game currency would not be able to receive a refund. Meta's CTO, Andrew Bosworth, answered questions regarding the shutdown in an Instagram AMA, explaining that it would be "even less cost effective" to open-source or sell the game.

Fans of Echo VR protested against the game's shutdown, going so far as to fly a banner over Meta's headquarters asking to reverse the decision. Despite this, the game's servers did shutdown on the given date. Echo VR itself was still able to be downloaded and opened, meaning the contents of the game were still available, but a player would not be able to progress after a shutdown notice pop-up.

Despite Ready At Dawn's claims, there was no other project released following the shutdown. The studio proceeded to suffer major layoffs and, on August of 2024, Meta shut down Ready At Dawn Studios itself, blaming Oculus Studios' budgetary constraints.

Lawsuits

United States of America v. Facebook

In July 2019, Facebook agreed to pay $5 billion USD and implement corrective measures after it was sued by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for "misleading users about the extent to to which third-party application developers could access users' personal information."

Facebook's Default Privacy Settings Controversy (2010-2018)

Facebook's default settings allowed third-party app developers to access not only the data of users who installed their apps, but also the data of those users' friends. While users could opt out of this data sharing, the setting was located separately from the main privacy settings page, making it difficult to find and adjust.

After settling with the FTC in 2012 over deceptive privacy practices, Facebook initially added a privacy disclaimer about friend data sharing but removed it four months later. This occurred while continuing the same data-sharing practices that prompted the original FTC investigation, violating the order's prohibition against misrepresenting users' privacy control.

While Facebook publicly announced in 2014 that it would stop allowing third-party developers to collect data about users' friends, it privately maintained agreements with dozens of "whitelisted developers" who continued to have this access until June 2018.

Deceptive Two-Factor Authentication (2015-2018)

Facebook requested users' phone numbers for security purposes, including two-factor authentication, without effectively disclosing that this information would also be used for advertising purposes.

Misleading Facial Recognition Implementation

In 2018, Facebook's updated data policy implied that facial recognition technology was opt-in, while tens of millions of users with older versions of the technology actually had to opt out to disable it.

GDPR Violations

In July 2020, the Irish Data Protection Authority submitted an inquiry into Meta's Facebook service for transferring its users personal data to the U.S. which failed to comply with a 2020 decision that the company's data was not secure enough. In May 2023, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) enforced the $1.2 billion euro fine on Meta and an order to cease the "unlawful processing, including storage, in the U.S. of personal data of European users transferred in violation of the GDPR."

In September 2022, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) fined Meta 405 million euros and imposed several "corrective measures" on Meta for its illegal handling of children's Instagram profile data. Before corrective measures were imposed upon Meta, their Instagram platform publically disclosed email address and phone numbers of children who used the business account feature.

The State of Texas Court v. Meta Platforms

In February 2022, Attorney General Paxton sued Meta for the illegal collection of Texas citizens' biometric data, such as retina scans, fingerprints, voiceprints, and face geometry, without their informed consent from 2010 to 2021. Meta would share it with third parties and would not delete this data despite promisingto do so, which violated Texas' Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier (CUBI) Act and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA).

In July 2024, Meta agreed to pay Texas $1.4 Billion in a settlement with the attorney general which consisted of a $25,000 USD fine for each CUBI violation and $10,000 USD for each DTPA violation.

"Pay or Consent" Model

Meta is currently being investigated for violating Europe's digital competition rules by employing a "pay or consent" model to its Facebook and Instagram platforms, forcing users to pay a monthly subscription for an ad-free version or to accept versions with personalized advertisements. By using the free versions, users are required to consent to the use of their personal data to serve them relevant advertisements.

Michael Koenig, a senior official at the European Commission, said Meta must offer users an alternative to “full” ad personalization that “does not rely on this personal data and which is then automatically less personalized and still available to them.”