Which company operates the social network Facebook?

Meta Platforms operates the social network Facebook.

Facebook was launched in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and fellow Harvard students Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes. It initially served Harvard students before expanding to other universities and then the wider public.

The parent company changed its name from Facebook, Inc. to Meta Platforms, Inc. in October 2021. The change reflected a stated focus on building the metaverse, although Facebook remained the name of the company's flagship social-networking service.

This distinction matters in company rankings and financial reporting. Facebook is a product and platform, while Meta Platforms is the corporation whose other major services include Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.