Which company operates the Facebook social network, Instagram, and WhatsApp?

Meta Platforms operates Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The company was founded as Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes in 2004. Facebook began as a social-networking service for Harvard students before expanding to other universities and then to users worldwide.

Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. Those acquisitions added major photo-sharing and messaging platforms to its family of services. In October 2021, the corporation changed its name from Facebook, Inc. to Meta Platforms, Inc., signaling a broader focus beyond the original social network.

Meta's market capitalization is tied largely to digital advertising across its apps, while the company also invests heavily in virtual and augmented reality through Reality Labs. A frequent misunderstanding is that Meta owns every major social platform: it does not own YouTube, TikTok, or X. Its major consumer brands include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.