Facebook parent company Meta has reportedly disbanded an internal team dedicated to studying the potential negative impacts of the company’s products, including Facebook and Instagram.
Around two dozen engineers, ethicists and others made up the Responsible Innovation team, as it was called, which until now had assessed potential concerns about new products and changes to Facebook and Instagram, according to The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. A Meta spokesman told the Journal that most of the former team’s members would keep doing similar watchdog work elsewhere in the company, though they weren’t guaranteed jobs.
The company is in a period of change. Meta has been struggling with a mid-year advertising revenue drop, has shuttered Live Shopping and faces a $400 million fine by EU authorities for failing to protect children. The company is continuing its refocus on virtual reality with a new headset coming alongside a VR conference on Oct. 11.
Meta didn’t respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
