Meta replaces global affairs chief ahead of Trump’s inauguration

facebook father Goal is replacing president of global affairs Nick Clegg with Joel Kaplan, the company’s current vice president of policy and a former Republican Party staffer.

The shakeup comes three weeks before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, and is the latest sign of how tech companies are positioning themselves for a new administration in Washington.

Clegg, a former British deputy prime minister, said he will resign, citing the new year as the right time to move on. He will be replaced by Kaplan, who will assume the title of Director of Global Affairs.

Kaplan was a member of former President George W. Bush’s staff and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Trump in December. He also attended Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing in 2018. like a personal friendcausing a controversy for social media company.

“I look forward to spending a few months handing over the reins and representing the company at a series of international meetings in the first quarter of this year,” Clegg wrote in a memo to staff that shared on Facebook on Thursday.

Clegg joined the company in 2018 after a career in British politics with the Liberal Democrat Party, and helped Meta weather incredible scrutiny, especially over the company’s influence on elections and its efforts to rein in harmful content. . Clegg also helped guide the company through the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which Facebook shared user data with outside political consultants. He also represented the company in Washington and London, frequently on panels on artificial intelligence and at congressional hearings.

“My time at the company coincided with a significant reset of the relationship between ‘big tech’ and social pressures manifested in new laws, institutions and regulations affecting the sector,” Clegg wrote.

In his note, Clegg said former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin would replace Kaplan as Meta’s vice president of global policy. He mentioned that Kaplan would work closely with David Ginsburg, the company’s vice president of global communications and public affairs.

“Nick: I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for Meta and the world these past seven years,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. You “built a strong team to carry out this work. I am excited to have Joel take on this role next given his depth of experience and knowledge leading our policy work for many years.”

Semafor reported for the first time the news.

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