Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg ‘visits’ hurricane-hit Puerto Rico in VR promo

Billionaire criticised on social media over ‘tone-deaf’ livestream

Zuckerberg high-fives Facebook colleague Rachel Franklin in their virtual reality “visit” to Puerto Rico
Zuckerberg high-fives Facebook colleague Rachel Franklin in their virtual reality “visit” to devastated Puerto Rico 
(Image credit: Facebook)

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is in the firing line over a bizarre livestream demo of the company’s virtual reality (VR) products in which a cartoon version of the billionaire “visited” hurricane-hit Puerto Rico.

“One of the things that’s really magical about virtual reality is you can really get the feeling you’re really in a place,” said Zuckerberg - before high-fiving Franklin within the virtual space against a video backdrop showing flooded scenes of Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.

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Another user suggests he should have visited Puerto Rico in person to “bring supplies”.