The President of Meta’s International Affairs staff, 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 outstanding Republican executives, Joel Kaplan. Clegg noted on X that Kaplan is “clearly the proper particular person for the proper job on the proper time.” This high-profile management change is going on simply three weeks earlier than President-elect Donald Trump takes workplace. The information was beforehand reported by Semafor.
“As a brand new 12 months begins, I’ve come to the view that that is the proper time for me to maneuver on from my function as President, International Affairs at Meta,” mentioned Clegg in a tweet. “My time on the firm coincided with a big resetting of the connection between ‘huge tech’ and the societal pressures manifested in new legal guidelines, establishments and norms affecting the sector.”
A lot of the know-how world is making an attempt to affix 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, similar to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, have also reportedly dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago following his second election win.
By appointing a Republican to move Meta’s coverage staff, 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 Meta’s content material moderation skewed to center-left politics, and silenced right-wing voices. This included the corporate’s choice to ban Trump’s social media accounts following the January 6th riot.
Within the final 12 months, Meta has made a concerted effort to appease Republicans. Meta removed all restrictions on Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts forward of the 2024 election. In August, Zuckerberg despatched a letter to House Republicans wherein 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.
