Over the next five years, Facebook aims to create 10,000 new highly skilled jobs in the European Union as part of the creation of the so-called ‘Metaverse’, a platform of “interconnected virtual experiences using technologies such as virtual and augmented reality”. The announcement came from the group’s vice president, Nick Clegg, head of public affairs.
For Clegg, former British Deputy Prime Minister, the investment is a “sign of confidence in the strength of the European technology industry”. Moreover, he adds, “the EU also has an important role to play in shaping the new rules of the Internet” by helping “to incorporate European values such as freedom of expression, privacy, transparency and the rights of individuals in the daily functioning of the Internet” . The announcement comes at a time when the social media giant is under pressure internationally, after the accusations made by a former Facebook product manager in early October about the lack of transparency on the potential harm of the social experience, to which profits would have been placed first.