Meta has announced the appointment of three new board members, including Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) CEO and close ally of Donald Trump, Dana White.
It comes as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears to be making efforts to repair ties with Trump ahead of the US president-elect's inauguration this month.
A few days ago former Deputy Prime Minister of Great Britain and leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Nick Clegg has quit his job as president of global affairs at the social media giant.
The other new Meta board members include John Elkann, who heads European investment firm Exor, and Charlie Songhurst, a former Microsoft executive.
“Dena, John and Charlie will add a depth of expertise and perspective that will help us address the enormous opportunities ahead with (artificial intelligence), wearables and the future of human connection,” Mr. Zuckerberg said in a statement.
The social media giant also praised Mr White's role in making the UFC a global business.
In a post on Meta's Instagram, Mr White said he loved social media and was “excited to be a small part of the future of (artificial intelligence) and emerging technologies”.
Mr White has previously rejected any suggestion that the UFC's platforms foster hate speech, insisting he supports free speech.
A year ago, his tense conversation with a reporter who questioned why he allowed fighters to make anti-LGBT remarks went viral.
“People can say what they want and they can believe what they want,” Mr. White replied.
The UFC boss has had close relationship with Trump for decades.
Mr White's appointment follows news that Sir Nick has been replaced at Meta by his deputy, prominent Republican Joel Kaplan, who handled relations between the social media firm and the Republican Party.
There has been an apparent thaw between Metta and Trump in recent months.
Relations have been frosty at least since Trump was banned from Facebook and Instagram after the Capitol riot in January 2021.
Trump wrote in a book in August that Mr Zuckerberg would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he tried to meddle in the 2024 US election.
But the president-elect later softened his stance, saying on a podcast in October that it was “good” that Mr Zuckerberg was “staying out of the election” and thanked him for a personal phone call after he faced an assassination attempt.
Mr. Zuckerberg visited Mar-a-Lago and dinner with Trump after his election victory in November. Earlier this month he donate $1 million (£800,000) to the President-elect's inauguration fund.