Facebook, now known as Meta, has been named the worst company of 2021, following a survey that has declared the controversial social network to be the most upsetting for a wide range of grievances.
In the survey of 1,541 people carried out in early December named many companies as the worst of 2021, but Facebook (now Meta) was identified to be the worst in the pile.
The vote had Meta (Facebook) receiving 8% of the open-ended survey responses, 50% more votes than the second-place finisher, Chinese retailer Alibaba.
The survey which was commissioned by Yahoo Finance, had recipients declaring a plethora of reasons as to why Meta (Facebook) was the worst, with various controversies from the year resurfacing in the results.
The criticism included the major allegations from whistleblower Frances Haugen that Facebook has chosen “profit over safety” of its users, including setting algorithms to pursue engagement at the expense of enabling riots to occur.
Antitrust concerns were raised as well, and is already being looked into by lawmakers around the world.
The variety of complaints included claims of censorship of conservative voices on one side of the political aisle, while the other railed against the potentially dangerous spread of misinformation on its platforms. One response even accused Meta (Facebook) of “undermining democracy worldwide”.
The effects of Instagram on mental health and targeting children were also raised as concerning incidents.
Of other big names in the list, Alibaba was second, with investors citing a fifty-percent drop in value for the retailer. AT&T also caught flak for a 24% year-to-date loss.
Electric truck maker and 2020 survey winner Nikola was complained about for various issues, including an allegation from one respondent that it was a fraud.
Tesla has been complained about more for its products being rolled out “before they are ready”, as well as reports about sexual harassment and a dislike of CEO Elon Musk.
Citadel Securities and share trading service Robinhood received nominations for their roles during the Gamestop Reddit investment incident.
On the other end of the scale, Yahoo Finance selected Microsoft as Company of the Year for 2021, for reaching a market capitalization milestone of $2 trillion, along with a 53% year-to-date surge in its stock price.
Source: Apple Insider
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