Meta Platforms

Facebook dominates social media through its family of apps that include Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and the original Facebook. The company, led by founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, debuted in 2004 as a social network for Harvard University students, one of whom was Zuckerberg himself. The service then spread to other colleges before becoming generally available in 2006. Since then, Facebook has attracted billions of users and has become a behemoth in digital advertising. But it also been plagued by controversy for mismanaging users’ data, spreading misinformation and hate speech, and gobbling up companies that could someday threaten its business. As a result, Facebook has become a target for politicians and regulators who want to crack down on the service.