Meta lost more than $500bn since name change

Meta has lost more than $500 billion since its name change.

The figure comes from New York Magazine, who reported that Mark Zuckerberg's firm - formerly known as Facebook - has gone from being one of the top five biggest companies in the world to number 11.

The likes of TSMC, Berkshire Hathway and Tencent have overtaken Meta.

It's not all down to the name change, however, as the substantial reduction comes amid privacy concerns.

In December, Meta banned surveillance firms from targeting users on Facebook and Instagram.

The company behind the social media apps said seven surveillance companies were banned from its platforms for targeting around 50,000 users with “malicious activities”.

Meta accused the firms of actions like creating fake accounts, befriending targets, and using hacking methods to harvest information.

The company sent warnings about the activities to the 50,000 affected users and revealed some 1,500 pages had been suspended by Meta across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

According to Meta, the surveillance companies targeted people in more than 100 countries on behalf of their clients.

The news came as Facebook was already taking legal action against the owners of Pegasus over the alleged spreading of software via WhatsApp.

The US government blacklisted the firm and others, accusing them of providing spyware for foreign governments to "maliciously target" individuals.

Nathaniel Gleicher, head of security policy for Meta, said at the time: "The surveillance industry is much bigger than just one company, and it's much bigger than just malware-for-hire.”

He also claimed investigators had found targeting that was "indiscriminate" including ordinary members of the public as well as high-profile figures like politicians and human rights advocates.

Zuckerberg has also faced a backlash over Meta's Metaverse plans to construct a virtual reality successor to the internet.

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