Meta appoints new Trump-friendly policy chief

Meta is shaking up its policy team ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, with global policy head Nick Clegg stepping down after seven years at the company. He’ll be replaced by Joel Kaplan, a prominent Republican and Meta’s current vice president of policy.

In a post on Facebook, Clegg says it’s the “right time” for him to leave Meta, adding that he’ll spend the next few months “handing over the reins” to Kaplan. “Joel is quite clearly the right person for the right job at the right time — ideally placed to shape the company’s strategy as societal and political expectations around technology continue to evolve,” Clegg says.

“You’ve made an important impact advancing Meta’s voice and values around the world, as well as our vision for AI and the metaverse,” Zuckerberg said in a response to Clegg’s post. “I’m excited for Joel to step into this role next given his deep experience and insight leading our policy work for many years.”

Kevin Martin, a former Republican chair of the Federal Communications Commission, will take over Kaplan’s role as vice president of global policy.