How Facebook’s ‘metaverse’ became a political strategy in Washington

In Facebook’s Washington, D.C., office, the metaverse is already a full-on political push: The company is meeting with think tanks to discuss the creation of standards and protocols for the coming virtual world, enabling Facebook, some say, to turn the conversation away from such urgent but distasteful matters as the massive antitrust lawsuit filed last year by the Federal Trade Commission. Next week, Facebook Vice President for Global Affairs and Communications Nick Clegg plans to deliver a talk at the Atlantic Festival, a Washington-based ideas fest funded in part by the social media giant, titled “Journey to the Metaverse.”