Social media giant Meta posted record revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023, with a staggering $40.1 billion in revenue as digital advertising rebounds. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has endured intense criticism from federal authorities over allegations of child abuse and exploitation occurring through his use of the Meta platform.
The company managed to meet average revenue expectations set at approximately $39 billion.
And despite a wave of layoffs last year, Meta grew rapidly, tripling its net income to $14 billion, up 201% from 2022.
Sales in the fourth quarter increased by 25% compared to 2022.
Meta appears to have managed to address a problem that branded platforms struggled with in their heyday: adding new users. Meta reported a 6% year-over-year increase in users across its platforms by the end of 2023, bringing the total number of users to 3.98 billion. variety I got it.
Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and even Threads, the company’s answer to Twitter/X, reportedly hosted 130 million monthly active users.
Stock prices reached all-time highs $465 per share As of this writing, Meta’s board has declared that it intends to pay cash dividends on a quarterly basis going forward.
“It was a good quarter as our community and business continued to grow,” Zuckerberg said. “We have made significant progress in aligning with our vision to advance AI and the Metaverse.”
The announcement comes as Zuckerberg/Meta and other social media companies came under heavy criticism at a Senate committee hearing titled “Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis.”
Zuckerberg, along with representatives from platforms such as TikTok, took a figurative rebuke at the company over its handling of child abuse allegations promoted by bad actors through its platforms.
Sen. Ted Cruz asked the CEO about the warning screen for child abuse search results on Instagram, allowing users to simply bypass the warning screen to see the results. Zuckerberg argued that it would be better to provide resources for people searching for such terms, and that the company may have inappropriately labeled a user’s search because its search feature may have inappropriately labeled a user’s search. It explained that it still allows users to view results.
Zuckerberg also used the opportunity to apologize to the families of those in attendance who lost children to child exploitation schemes on social media.
“I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through,” the CEO said after being asked by Sen. Josh Hawley if he wanted to apologize. “No one should have to go through what your family has had to go through. That’s why we’ve invested so much, and why no one should have to go through what your family has had to go through. “We will continue our industry-wide efforts to ensure this does not happen again,” he added. guardian.
Mehta recently announced that it would take steps to hide content from teens on Facebook and Instagram that talks about suicide, self-harm and eating disorders.
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