The former leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg has been promoted to top policy executive at Facebook parent company Meta - ...
The former leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg has been promoted to top policy executive at Facebook parent company Meta - making him one of the most powerful people in tech.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Clegg's promotion in a Facebook post on Wednesday, signalling that the founder will have less of an involvement in policy going forward.
'We need a senior leader at the level of myself (for our products) and Sheryl (for our business) who can lead and represent us for all of our policy issues globally,' Zuckerberg wrote, referring to Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.
The former leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg has been promoted to top policy executive at Facebook parent company Meta
Clegg, who was a British deputy prime minister from 2010 to 2015, joined Facebook, owned by newly renamed parent company Meta, in 2018 to run its global policy organisation
Clegg, 55, who was a British deputy prime minister from 2010 to 2015, joined Facebook in 2018 to run its global policy organisation.
He has led on issues like Facebook's content policy and elections and spearheaded its establishment of the company's independent content oversight board.
'Nick will now lead our company on all our policy matters, including how we interact with governments as they consider adopting new policies and regulations, as well as how we make the case publicly for our products and our work,' Zuckerberg said in the post.
It comes as Meta faces mounting scandals after whistleblower documents leaked last October claimed its platforms harmed users - and said chiefs were aware of the harm caused by Instagram and WhatsApp but failed to act.
The company is steeped deep in crisis after whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked internal documents and made bombshell claims last year that Facebook 'puts profits over people' by knowingly harming teenagers with its content and stoking anger among users.
Haugen, a Facebook former product manager, left the company with tens of thousands of confidential documents that she copied in secret and released to roughly two dozen news outlets.
The CEO said the change would allow him to focus more on leading the company as it builds new products while Sandberg focused on the success of its business.
Clegg's elevation to the role of 'president, global affairs,' reporting to both Zuckerberg and Sandberg, comes ahead of US midterm elections in November.
Clegg will also be tasked with handling regulatory issues as the company focuses on building the metaverse, a futuristic idea of immersive virtual environments.
'The next few years will be a crucial time for our company and our industry as new rules for the internet are written all over the world, and as we set out on our journey to help build the metaverse,' Sandberg wrote in a post.
Appointed in October 2018 as vice-president for global affairs and communications, Sir Nick commands a reported salary of £2.7 million and has been tasked by Mr Zuckerberg to defend the tech giant's interests abroad.
Trading in his £1.5 million townhouse in Putney, South-West London, for a £7 million mansion in the sleepy Californian hamlet of Atherton, Clegg has embraced the Silicon Valley lifestyle.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Clegg's promotion in a Facebook post on Wednesday, signalling that the founder will have less of an involvement in policy going forward
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