The president of Meta’s International Affairs crew, Nick Clegg, is stepping down from his place on the firm, the manager introduced in a tweet on Thursday.
Clegg, Meta’s politically centrist coverage chief since 2018, will likely be changed by one of many firm’s most distinguished Republican executives, Joel Kaplan. Clegg famous on X that Kaplan is “clearly the precise individual for the precise job on the proper time.” This high-profile management change is occurring simply three weeks earlier than President-elect Donald Trump takes workplace. The information was beforehand reported by Semafor.
“As a brand new yr begins, I’ve come to the view that that is the precise time for me to maneuver on from my position as President, International Affairs at Meta,” mentioned Clegg in his tweet. “My time on the firm coincided with a major resetting of the connection between ‘massive tech’ and the societal pressures manifested in new legal guidelines, establishments and norms affecting the sector.”
A lot of the expertise world is making an attempt to hitch Trump’s good graces forward of his second time period. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg donated $1 million to the president-elect’s inaugural fund in December and personally dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November. Different tech executives, comparable to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple CEO Tim Cook dinner, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, have additionally reportedly dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago following his second election win.
By appointing a Republican to move Meta’s coverage crew, the corporate could also be signaling they’re keen to work extra intently with conservatives within the incoming administration. Meta beforehand confronted scrutiny from Republicans who alleged the corporate’s content material moderation skewed to center-left politics and silenced right-wing voices. This included the corporate’s determination to ban Trump’s social media accounts following the January 6 revolt.
Within the final yr, Meta has made a concerted effort to appease Republicans. Meta eliminated all restrictions on Trump’s Fb and Instagram accounts forward of the 2024 election. In August, Zuckerberg despatched a letter to Home Republicans through which he apologized for bending to stress from the Biden administration to “censor sure COVID-19 content material.”
Meta didn’t instantly reply to TechCrunch’s request for remark.
