Many observers are skeptical that Facebook/Meta is capable of keeping people safe in the virtual metaverse it plans to build, given the company's struggles to moderate today's online world.

Yes, but: Veteran Facebook executive Andrew Bosworth argues Facebook's history is what makes it the firm best suited to the task.

Bosworth says Facebook has the largest team working on the potential harms that might befall users in the metaverse — everything from harassment, hate speech and misinformation to digital theft — and is the only company with experience tackling such challenges at the scale of entire populations.

• "We are uncommonly well suited to spot around corners in new areas like the metaverse," Bosworth told me in an interview last week.

Catch up quick: Bosworth, the man in charge of implementing the company's technical vision for the metaverse, has spent the last few years leading Facebook's AR and VR efforts.

• He's set to become company-wide CTO next year, is one of Facebook's longest tenured employees and played a significant part in key pillars of its core service, including the News Feed.

Between the lines: Bosworth notes that many of the hardest problems aren't about implementing policy on a large scale.

• "It's not just about effort," he said. "It is also about the substance of what the policies should be."

When it comes to governing the real world, Bosworth argues, people embrace a broad range of ideas.

• A highly centralized and controlled regime — like Singapore, for example — can keep things safer and cleaner, but at the expense of individual liberties.
• More open societies foster greater freedom and dialogue, but with less order, more danger and other downsides.

The big picture: CEO Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse keynote last week urged companies to collaborate on building a single digital universe, along the lines of today's internet.

Yet the more open the metaverse is, the harder it may become to moderate. Existing real-world legal authorities could struggle to assign jurisdiction over a digital world that transcends physical location.

Yes, but: Bosworth notes that there are also some aspects of a metaverse that should be easier to handle than either moderating widely accessible content or policing the real world.

• For one, he says, you could have the option to mute someone who is behaving inappropriately and have them permanently unable to bother you, an option not available in the real world.

What's next: Bosworth says society needs to debate what we expect in terms of security and privacy in the virtual world.

"I am eager to have those conversations," he said. "I don't think we should be making those decisions, certainly not by ourselves."

Social media giants are sprinting towards the live shopping market that's long been dominated by traditional television networks like QVC and HSN, Axios' Sara Fischer reports.

Why it matters: Tech firms have spent years building algorithms to get people to click on ads, but now they're finding that the real purchasing power on social media lies in live product reviews from people users trust.

Driving the news: Pinterest on Monday launched Pinterest TV, a video platform with live series and original content featuring Pinterest creators hawking goods.

• Pinterest users can interact with hosts by asking them questions live via a chat function.
• Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Amazon have all introduced their own live shopping projects last year or this year.

Be smart: The pandemic helped to fuel the live shopping craze, not just on platforms like YouTube and TikTok — which have long attracted creators that do product reviews — but also on traditional TV shopping networks.

• QVC and HSN had one of their best years ever during the pandemic in 2020.
• A slew of live shopping startups have raised big money from venture capital investors trying to capitalize on the trend.

By the numbers: Livestream e-commerce is expected to grow to $25 billion in sales in the U.S. by 2023, according to Coresight Research, a retail and tech analysis firm.

What to watch: For tech companies grappling with instability in the advertising market, shopping and e-commerce offers a new lifeline.

Go deeper: Live video is the next hot shopping trend

Amazon on Monday announced plans to launch prototype satellites for its proposed satellite broadband network, Axios' Margaret Harding McGill reports.

Why it matters: The plans bring Amazon one step closer to building a satellite constellation to provide internet connectivity around the world, rivaling the SpaceX's Starlink service.

Driving the news: Amazon sought permission from the Federal Communications Commission to launch, deploy and operate two prototype satellites for its Project Kuiper constellation.

• The prototypes will be used to test the technology Amazon wants to use in its final satellite design, the company said.

Yes, but: Amazon is behind SpaceX in deployment, with Starlink satellites already providing internet service to customers.

The big picture: Amazon and SpaceX have sparred before the FCC, which gives regulatory approval for communications networks, as they seek to carve out positions for their competing satellite internet infrastructure systems.

"Fortress Night," the Chinese version of Epic Games' massive hit "Fortnite," is shutting down this month after years of testing an altered version of the game, Axios' Megan Farokhmanesh reports.

Driving the news: The game's team announced the news on its website, noting that "the test of 'Fortress Night' has come to an end," and servers will shut down the morning of Nov. 15.

• "Fortnite" launched in China in 2018 as part of a partnership between Epic Games and Tencent.

Yes, but: The game never officially launched in China.

• On Twitter, analyst Daniel Ahmad pointed out that it was never actually approved by the government and therefore could not fully launch, or collect revenue.
• The Chinese version of the game differed from the original in several ways. It included no microtransactions and changes were made to its lore and looks to make it less violent.

On Tap

• The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing focused on counterfeits and stolen goods on online marketplaces. The hearing comes shortly after Amazon endorsed a House bill meant to deter such sales.
• Earnings reports include Match Group and Lyft.

Trading Places

• LinkedIn named eight-year veteran Ya Xu to a new post: head of data.

ICYMI

• Yahoo announced it will shut down its services in China, citing an “increasingly challenging” business environment. (Wall Street Journal)
• Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that Apple plans to include a feature in upcoming phones and watches that can detect a car crash and summon help. (Wall Street Journal)
• Zillow bought too many houses and is now seeking institutional investors to buy some of them. (Bloomberg)

I know it's a little late for Halloween-related items, but I decided to make an exception because: puppies in panda costumes.