Yes, they do that, but it's not out of altruism. Gratitude may be the wrong word when Meta and Zuck have actively worked to erode people's trust in society and reality, while actualizing a technofuedalist vision of serfdom; literally a 21st century scheme for world domination and subjugation of the poors.
I agree with you - but the tools they gave out for free still stand no?
They stand out as great examples of commoditising your complement.
When your business is pushing ads to people while they watch cat videos, then video processing software is your complement, and you want it to be as cheap as possible.
[0] https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/06/12/strategy-letter-v/
Just like the farm tools the serfs used were free too