Meta Appoints Joel Kaplan to Lead Global Policy, Replacing Nick Clegg

Meta on Thursday is scheduled Joel KaplanThe longtime executive, a former senior adviser to George W. Bush and known for his ties to Republicans, will become the new head of global policy as the social media giant seeks to strengthen its ties with the incoming Trump administration.

Mr Kaplan, 55, replaces Nick Clegg, a former deputy prime minister of Britain who has led Meta’s policy and regulatory affairs around the world since 2018. In a post on his personal Facebook page, Mr Clegg, 57, said Mr Kaplan was “Clearly the right man for the right job at the right time, ideally suited to shape the company’s strategy as social and political expectations technology continues to evolve.”

Kevin Martin, who worked on policy issues for many years at Meta, will take over Mr. Kaplan’s former role as vice president of public policy.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, thanked Mr Clegg in a comment on his Facebook post for being “an important influence in promoting Meta’s voice and values ​​around the world”.

Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Mehta are among many in the tech industry who are increasingly working to establish direct relationships with President-elect Donald Trump. Before the November election, Mr. Zuckerberg, Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, began message to Mr. Trump as they sought to place themselves in a position that could potentially benefit their business.

Meta donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund last month, just weeks after Mr Zuckerberg met with Mr Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

Mr. Zuckerberg has aimed at relieving politicking from subordinates in recent years, after he spent much of the 2010s traveling to Washington to reassure Congress, which questioned the role his social media apps played in spreading misinformation during the 2016 election. Mr. Zuckerberg has tasked Mr. Clegg with acting as a sort of head of state for Meta, holding meetings with regulators around the world and defending the company’s policy positions against increasingly aggressive government agencies.

Despite this, Mr Zuckerberg recently traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet Mr Trump in person and repair long-strained relations. Trump has previously criticized Mehta and Zuckerberg for trying to censor conservative voices.

Mr. Kaplan has many ties to conservatives and the Republican Party. After attending Harvard Law School, he clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court and then served as Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bush from 2006 to 2009. He joined Facebook in 2011 at the urging of Sheryl Sandberg, the former chief operating officer and friend of Mr. Kaplan.

Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican who served with Mr. Kaplan during the Bush administration, congratulated Mr. Kaplan and Mr. Martin in a statement Thursday and said he hoped their promotions would signal a renewed commitment to freedom words on the Internet. ” Mr. Cruz added that he hoped Meta would join X, the social media app owned by Elon Musk, “in the fight to protect free speech for all.”

Mr. Kaplan has sometimes been a polarizing figure within the Meta. In 2018, he spoke in support of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, his longtime friend, during Judge Kavanaugh’s contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearings. This caused discord among employeesmany of whom expressed their anger in internal forums at Mr. Kaplan for his tacit approval of Judge Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexually assaulting a classmate. Judge Kavanaugh rejected the allegations.

Mr. Kaplan later apologized to Meta employees who were upset by his actions.

In a comment on Mr. Clegg’s Facebook post on Thursday, Mr. Kaplan called the change “bittersweet” and said he was “honored” to follow in Mr. Clegg’s footsteps.

Mr. Clegg spent much of his time at Meta promoting its open-source artificial intelligence program, campaigning for the company in the European Union and repairing relationships in Washington.

“I’m proud of the work I’ve been able to do in leading and supporting teams across the company to ensure innovation can go hand in hand with increased transparency and accountability, and new forms of governance,” Mr Clegg said on Thursday. He said he planned to stay with Meta for a few months, representing the company at international events, before leaving.