Meta's Entry into The Metaverse: Latest Developments 

The future of the web will be virtual and "Meta," the corporation is known to the general public as Facebook, says that 1 billion people are going to be working and playing within the immersive, three-dimensional world, the metaverse.

Facebook already features a professional version of metaverses: Horizon Workrooms, an app that lets Oculus-sporting workers enter virtual offices and hold meetings. As it stands, Zuckerberg has had the thought of creating an interactive virtual space for a while, as Oculus could stand as his starting point. 

Nonetheless, why is there so much interest in the current virtual spaces utilizing blockchain technology and web 3.0 to create a wholesome experience for users?

Realistic Experiences within Virtual Spaces

Interactions with other people will feel realistic such that one can see their facial expressions or visual communication. The concept offers the ability to move to anywhere you want in a virtual world instantly. This factor is not to discredit the possibility of having experiences of commuting within the virtual world. 

Users will also be able to create avatars within the virtual world that resemble their appearance within the actual world. However, a metaverse is an opportunity to transcend the limitations in the real world and explore your fantasies. Therefore, there is no limitation of race, gender, language, and more within the spaces. 

The avatars will be as common as profile pictures on social media sites, but "instead of a static image there'll be living, 3-D representations of your preferred appearance. Users could also readily customize their avatars for work and play.

Meta assures that it does not want to own its metaverse and is making tools available to allow developers to connect its platform with other developers. Tools that allow creators to connect various physical locations into augmented reality experiences for virtual tours and scavenger hunts are also on the way. In his opinion, it leaves room for growth for the Meta community, commerce, and economy.

Controversies Associated with Meta

But the expansion of the metaverse also will mean more scrutiny for a corporation that's currently under attack for failing to safeguard user data properly. In October 2021, former Facebook employee Frances Haugen publicly came forward after leaking thousands of documents. The documents revealed that company executives knew the platform helped spread misinformation for years but did not do enough to combat the negative effects.

Recently, Zuckerberg said one among the teachings he has mastered within the past five years is that privacy and safety are the basis of building a successful metaverse. Therefore, he encourages metaverse developers to exercise responsible creation from the word go.

The company believes in offering end users products that they want. Furthermore, collaboration with different parties, including developers, content creators, and marketers, among others is necessary for success.

Additionally, appreciating the lack of regulations in decentralized spaces increases the need for stringent security measures to protect users, their data, and investments. Instead of hurrying, the platform wishes to take time to perfect Meta as a product as it grows. 

Nonetheless, a growing group of regulators, politicians, and advocacy groups still raise concerns about Meta's plans after its controversies.  

Anti-Competitive Concerns in The Metaverse 

The company, formerly known as Facebook, spent nearly two decades cementing its position as the biggest social media company globally — that is, largely by buying other social media startups, like Instagram and WhatsApp.

Critics have accused Mark Zuckerberg and his company of employing a "copy-acquire-kill" strategy to pressure its would-be competition into selling or risk being crushed by Facebook. There is great concern that Meta may be employing the same tactics in the metaverse sector.

Antitrust regulators argue that Meta is an unbeatable social media behemoth. Some state that other companies lack the needed resources to combat the dominance of the social media king. This factor places it at the best vantage point to take over the VR space. 

Some competitors complain that Meta is not playing fair in the new metaverse market. Mark Zuckerberg has said that he wants its metaverse to permit other companies to create in this space. But some independent developers argue that Meta is not as open as it says it is. 

One Big Issue: Some AR/VR hardware companies say Meta is discounting its VR headsets, selling at several hundred dollars below any comparable device: this is major because it is hard for smaller startups to compete. The FTC is reportedly considering that Meta is selling Quest headsets at a loss to undercut competitors and drive them out of the market, a practice known as predatory pricing.

In response to concerns about whether its AR/VR platform is truly open to third-party developers, Meta pointed out that the company still allows the games it has acquired to run on third-party gaming systems.

How Meta Became an Antitrust Target

The Meta virtual space remains a part of a hypothetical future, which makes accusations that Meta is monopolizing are hard to prove. And while Meta had issues with the FTC, the agency allowed it to accumulate the businesses that helped it become the dominant force it still is today. Clearly, the FTC is reconsidering that now.

In their lawsuits against Meta, the FTC and attorney generals argued that the company's acquisitions and anti-competitive practices helped it dominate social media. Meta is also guarded against the competition in upcoming spaces like mobile and messaging, which it had been unable to try on its own. Other companies found their access to Facebook's platform restricted or limited if they worked with competitors or were competitors themselves.

FTC is now posing for acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp — alongside other assets found to harm competition — to have been illegal. This step would effectively backtrack the corporate now referred to as Meta.

Meta's Unclear Future

Antitrust action can distract or discourage tech companies from new markets as evidenced in the cases of IBM and Microsoft. Currently, we cannot tell whether Meta will be similarly impacted.

There is a huge gap between the fast-moving technology industry and the government's response, which is notoriously slow. Antitrust cases take decades to resolve and attempts to reform legislation can take even longer.

There's still a lot that is unknown about how exactly the metaverse will shape out. Meta's plans may fail not only due to regulation but also to business realities.

Regardless of the success or failure of Meta's business plans in the metaverse sector, having the looming threat of regulation as a constant headache is detrimental. What's clear is that no matter what happens, regulators are trying to get ahead of its metaverse, and Meta won't be able to skate by as easily as it has in the past.