Nick Clegg is leaving Meta after 7 years overseeing its policy decisions

Nick Clegg, the former British deputy prime minister turned CEO of Meta, is leaving after seven years with the social media company. Clegg announced his departure on X and Threads, saying “this is the right time for me to transition from my role as Head of Global Affairs at Meta.”

Clegg will be replaced by Joel Kaplan, a longtime political executive and former White House aide to George W. Bush known for his political stances. Deep relationships For Republican districts in Washington. As Chief Global Affairs Officer, Kaplan – e.g Semaphore – He would be well-placed to step in on behalf of Meta while Donald Trump takes control of the White House.

Clegg joined Meta In 2018a year after British public opinion deemed the former leader of the Liberal Democrats unelectable. The company then known as Facebook was looking to improve its political relations after the Cambridge Analytica scandals and others. And in 2022 it was to Head of Global Affairs, a position that reports directly to Mark Zuckerberg (his previous role was overseen by Sheryl Sandberg, then Meta’s COO).

The former politician played a key role in some of Meta’s most important and controversial decisions. He publicly defended the company’s decision not to implement it For politicians and compose their public statements about and From Donald Trump’s Facebook account. More recently, Clegg criticized the EU’s handling of technology regulation, arguing that the bloc is not adhering to regulatory rules Advances in artificial intelligence.

“My time at the company coincided with a major reset in the relationship between Big Tech and societal pressures manifested in new laws, institutions, and norms affecting the sector,” Clegg wrote in his essay. On topics. “I hope I have played some role in seeking to bridge the very different worlds of technology and politics – worlds that will continue to interact in unpredictable ways across the globe.”

Clegg said in a He said he will spend the next “few months” working with Kaplan and “representing the company at a number of international gatherings in the first quarter of this year” before officially stepping down from the company. He did not indicate what he might do next.