Facebook parent company Meta, is looking to make hardware for its Metaverse in Vietnam, according to VN Express. This comes as the Prime Minister of Vietnam met with Meta executives in California on Monday.
Why it matters: Facebook has flourished in Vietnam and has become an integral part of the countries social fabric and its retail sector–millions of dollars in sales are generated through Facebook pages in Vietnam every day. It has, however, also been a means for activists to express themselves and mobilise the public. In 2015, for example, Facebook was credited with amplifying the public outcry over a plan to cut down 6,500 trees in Hanoi which led to the plan being put on ice.
On that note, Facebook often receives content removal requests from the authorities in Vietnam and is known to comply. Legislation has also been passed in the last few years to given the authorities greater control cross-border service providers like Facebook. Yet this latest announcement signals greater integation between the burgeoning Southeast Asian nation and the social media behemoth, and therefore gives pause for thought as to how this might impact their working relationship moving forward.