Facebook was incorporated in Delaware in July 2004 and completed its initial public offering in May 2012. It is the largest product in what its parent company calls its Family of Apps, alongside Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. Meta reports usage only at the Family level: 3.58 billion daily active people on average during December 2025. It does not publish a Facebook-only user figure, so widely circulated per-app counts are third-party estimates rather than company-reported numbers.
Corporate history
The company rebranded from Facebook, Inc. to Meta Platforms on October 28, 2021, announcing a focus on “bring[ing] the metaverse to life.” The Facebook product retained its name.
Data access and Cambridge Analytica
On April 4, 2018, Facebook’s then chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer wrote that “the Facebook information of up to 87 million people — mostly in the US — may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica,” and described restrictions the company was placing on the data third-party apps could reach. The disclosure followed reporting on data collected through a third-party personality app whose permissions extended to the friends of the people who installed it.
Content moderation and civic content
On January 7, 2025, chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan announced that Meta was “ending our third party fact checking program in the United States and instead begin moving to a Community Notes program,” modeled on the system X uses. The same announcement reversed an earlier policy of demoting political material in recommendations: Meta said it would “start treating civic content from people and Pages you follow on Facebook more like any other content” and recommend more political content based on personalized signals. Kaplan also stated that “one to two out of every 10” content removals “may have been mistakes,” and said automated enforcement would refocus on illegal and high-severity violations.
Sources
- 01.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Meta Platforms, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025. Source for incorporation in Delaware in July 2004, the May 2012 initial public offering, and the Family daily active people figure — "Worldwide DAP increased 7% to 3.58 billion on average during December 2025 from 3.35 billion during December 2024." DAP counts people across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp collectively; Meta does not report a Facebook-only user number in this filing.
- 02.
Meta. An Update on Our Plans to Restrict Data Access on Facebook. Mike Schroepfer, April 4, 2018. Source for the Cambridge Analytica figure: "In total, we believe the Facebook information of up to 87 million people — mostly in the US — may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica."
- 03.
Meta. Introducing Meta: A Social Technology Company. Source for the October 28, 2021 corporate rebrand — "CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced Meta, which brings together our apps and technologies under one new company brand" — and the stated focus on the metaverse.
- 04.
Meta. More Speech and Fewer Mistakes. Joel Kaplan, January 7, 2025. Source for ending the third-party fact-checking program in the United States in favor of Community Notes, for the reversal on civic content ("we're going to start treating civic content from people and Pages you follow on Facebook more like any other content" and recommending more political content), and for Meta's estimate that "one to two out of every 10" content removals "may have been mistakes."