Facebook Vice President for Global Public Policy Joel Kaplan and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg leave the Elysée Palace after meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on May 23, 2018 in Paris, France.
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Facebook parent Meta replaces global affairs president Nick Clegg with Joel Kaplan, the company's current vice president of policy and 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 preparing for the new administration in Washington.
Clegg, a former British deputy prime minister, said he was stepping down, citing the new year as the right time to move forward. He will be replaced by Kaplan, who will assume the position of Chief Global Affairs Officer.
Kaplan was an employee of former President George W. Bush and listed on the New York Stock Exchange with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and Trump in December. He also attended Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing in 2018 as a personal friendcausing controversy for a social media company.
“I look forward to several months of handing over the reins and representing the company at many international meetings in the first quarter of this year,” Clegg wrote in a note to employees that shared on Facebook on Thursday.
Clegg joined the company in 2018 after a career in British politics with the Liberal Democrats and helped Meta navigate incredible scrutiny, particularly regarding the company's influence on elections and its efforts to control harmful content. Clegg also helped steer the company through the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which resulted in Facebook sharing user data with outside political consultants. He also represented the company in Washington and London, often on panels devoted to artificial intelligence and, among others, congressional hearings.
“My time at the company coincided with a significant reset in the relationship between 'big tech' and social pressures manifested in new regulations, institutions and norms affecting the sector,” Clegg wrote.
In his memo, Clegg wrote that former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin will replace Kaplan as Meta's vice president for global policy. He mentioned that Kaplan will work closely with David Ginsburg, the company's vice president of global communications and public affairs.
“Nick: I am grateful for everything you have done for Meta and the world over the last seven years,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. “You have created a strong team to continue this work. I am excited that Joel will take on this role next, given his deep experience and knowledge that has guided our policy work for many years.”
Semafor was the first to report the news.
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