Meta’s global news director Nick Clegg will be replaced by Republican Joel Kaplan

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Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta, is leaving the social media platform and will be replaced by Joel Kaplan, a prominent Republican known for overseeing the company’s relationship with conservatives.

In a post on Meta’s Facebook on Thursday, Cleggthe former leader of the Liberal Democrats and UK deputy prime minister, said he was leaving the company after seven years. He added that he will spend “a few months giving the skeleton” and representing the social network at international meetings before moving on to “new steps”.

Kaplan previously served as deputy chief of staff at the White House during the George W Bush administration. As Meta’s vice president of global public policy, he is known for handling the company’s relations with Republicans.

The move comes just weeks before Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, and his Republican Party is poised to control both houses of Congress. Technology companies incl Measurethe parent of Facebook and Instagram, is preparing for a major leadership change in Washington.

Prominent social media platforms have come under pressure from the president-elect and other Republicans, who have repeatedly accused them of censoring and silencing quiet speech.

Trump has previously targeted Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, at one point threatening to imprison him if he returns to office.

On the other hand, some critics argue that the Meta lists correctly and reject some of its earlier attempts at measurement as a result.

The announcement of Big Tech executives who previously had cool relations with the Republican leader has taken steps to court the president-elect since the election, Zuckerberg added. He recently dined with Trump at his Florida estate at Mar-a-Lago and publicly congratulated him on his victory.

Clegg joined Meta in 2018 after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. During his time at Meta, he has been at the forefront of dealing with the political storms that have rocked the company from time to time, helping it deal with regulatory challenges in the US and EU and leading first election work.

This has freed up Zuckerberg to focus on Meta’s multibillion-dollar effort to become a world leader in artificial intelligence and develop new products in areas such as augmented reality.

Mid 2022, Clegg in part moved to London, and has been expected to complete his tenure at the company, said several people familiar with the matter.

In his Facebook post on Thursday, he described his role as “the game of a lifetime” and Zuckerberg as “one of the most important innovators and business leaders of our time”.

Kaplan, who is known as a very effective agent, has created a controversial persona in Meta.

In the past, he intervened in policy decisions on behalf of political allies on the right, in an effort to stop bad press if they publicly complained about being investigated, according to reports and people familiar with the matter. Meta has denied allegations that employees including Kaplan have political influence in their decision-making processes and treatment of politicians.

In late 2018, Meta said its leadership team made “mistakes” after Kaplan attended a congressional event for friend and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The move caused uproar among some Meta employees over allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted him as a teenager, which he vehemently denied. He was eventually confirmed to the Supreme Court.

Semafor first reported on the changes.