Meta appoints new Trump-friendly policy chiefMeta appoints new Trump-friendly policy chief / Joel Kaplan, a former Republican White House staffer, is replacing global policy president Nick Clegg.By Emma Roth, a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. Jan 2, 2025, 9:15 PM UTCShare this story Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty ImagesMeta is shaking up its policy team ahead of President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration, with global policy head Nick Clegg stepping down after seven years at the company. Hell be replaced by Joel Kaplan, a prominent Republican and Metas current vice president of policy.In a post on Facebook, Clegg says its the right time for him to leave Meta, adding that hell 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 companys strategy as societal and political expectations around technology continue to evolve, Clegg says.Kaplan served as the White House deputy chief of staff during George W. Bushs administration and joined Meta in 2011. He drew some controversy in 2018 when he supported Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during a Senate hearing about sexual assault allegations, which reportedly angered some employees. Kaplan also recently joined Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance at the New York Stock Exchange.Despite butting heads with Trump in the past, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has attempted to flatter the President-elect in recent months, with Meta donating $1 million to his inauguration. Zuckerberg also met with Trump in Mar-a-Lago in November. Clegg, who once served as the UKs deputy prime minister as a member of the Liberal Democrats party, joined Meta in 2018. He played a pivotal role in shaping Metas policies in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which saw a rise in covid-related misinformation and a ban on Trumps Facebook and Instagram accounts. In December, Clegg reversed the companys earlier stance, saying Meta has been mistakenly moderating too much.Youve made an important impact advancing Metas voice andvalues around the world, as well as our vision for AI and the metaverse, Zuckerberg said in a response to Cleggs post. Im 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 Kaplans role as vice president of global policy.Most PopularMost Popular