Chhavideep Singh
Source:
Financial Times
“Politicians have their own games to play and their own explanations to give, we do not blame them for having opinions, we blame them for doing it with an ulterior motive.”
As we know, Facebook Inc. has recently rebranded itself to be called “Meta”, it is surely giving people mixed feelings. We cannot fully say that we are excited, we are, but why did this rebranding have to come at such a crucial time for the company? What is the reason behind this sudden name change?
Well, first of all, it is not a sudden decision, it is only a surprise announcement. The company might be thinking through this change for a very long time. However, there are certain entities that do not like the idea of changing brand identities.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York is one such example. She recently used some harsh words about Facebook after its name changed to ‘Meta’.
Meta as in “we are a cancer to democracy metastasizing into a global surveillance and propaganda machine for boosting authoritarian regimes and destroying civil society… for profit!” https://t.co/jzOcCFaWkJ
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 28, 2021
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “Meta as in ‘we are a cancer to democracy metastasizing into a global surveillance and propaganda machine for boosting authoritarian regimes and destroying civil society…for profit.”
Yes, this is what she said. Facebook on Thursday announced to rebrand Facebook Inc. to Meta which better encompasses everything that the company is doing beyond social media and it also represents the future of the company in a big way which Zuckerberg calls the metaverse.
However, it will be the holding company and will bring no change to the already existing umbrella platforms i.e., Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.
Anyhow, the name changes and rebranding seem a little off during the most crucial time for the company. Whistleblowers are submitting leaked documents to SEBI and the congress, dumping Facebook’s reputation 100-feet below the ground and here, CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg is announcing a rebranding of Facebook Inc.
Is this Facebook’s way of getting away with all the bad press and degraded reputation? I don’t think so, but then you never know, these are some big names that must have had this planned for at least six months or a year.
Anyhow, it is not the first time that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has fired shots at Facebook, she has been actively critical of Facebook and other tech companies in the past. She even tweeted about Amazon founder Jeff Bezos after his launch to space, commenting on how the online retailer is paying fewer wages to its workers, calling the company an ‘inhumane workplace’, as mentioned in a report by Business Insider. So, Facebook is not the only one and we can let this one slide.