Facebook is rebranding its parent company and will now go by the name Meta as Mark Zuckerberg tries to distance the social media behemoth from mounting scandals after leaked whistleblower documents claimed its platforms harmed users and stoked anger.

Zuckerberg made the announcement Thursday at the Facebook Connect augmented and virtual reality conference. During hte announcement, workers outside the company's Silicon Valley headquarters pulled down a curtain bearing the company's iconic 'Like' sign to reveal the new name and logo.

Meta refers to the 'metaverse,' Zuckerberg's vision for the company's transition into shared augmented reality, where uses work and play in virtual world environments.

The attempt to escape reality couldn't come at a better time for the embattled brand, which will retain the Facebook name, but Facebook Inc. - the parent company that also owns Instagram and WhatsApp - will now go under the new title Meta. It will begin trading under MVRS on December 1.

The company is steeped deep in crisis after whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked internal documents and made bombshell claims that it 'puts profits over people' by knowingly harming teenagers with its content and stoking anger among users. 

Haugen, a Facebook former product manager, left the company with tens of thousands of confidential documents that she copied in secret and released to roughly two dozen news outlets. 

On Thursday it was revealed how Facebook researchers are said to have had extensive knowledge that coronavirus and misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine existed on the company's apps, yet did little to combat it let alone share the information with the White House.

Documents presented by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen show how multiple studies were run producing a number various number detailing the types of users who were most likely to share fake news.