Facebook announced last week the change of name of the company that groups all its applications. It is now Meta Platforms. The change was interpreted by many analysts as an attempt to leave behind the public image problems that Facebook drags for its unauthorized use of its users' data. But there is more. Behind Meta is metaverse, an ambitious project in development that seeks, based on virtual reality and augmented reality, to implement a new virtual universe where users do not simply play games, but through avatars travel to work, go shopping or for fun, or meet in virtual workrooms. "We believe the metaverse will be the successor to the mobile internet," Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and co-CEO of Facebook/Meta, said in late October.

Learning from its lessons, as it develops metaverse, the company is investing US$50 million to fund the work of independent researchers around the world in areas such as security and privacy that will allow users to ask for help if they see something in the metaverse that makes them uncomfortable.