Meta’s leadership revamp: Republican Joel Kaplan to oversee global affairs, replacing Nick Clegg

US tech giant Meta Platforms has appointed prominent Republican Joel Kaplan as its new chief global affairs officer, replacing Nick Clegg.

The leadership change in Meta's policy and communications teams comes ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, as the company seeks to rebuild its relationship with a leader who has criticized its handling of political content and threatened to imprison its CEO, Caliber.Az reports referencing foreign media.

Kaplan, who previously reported to Clegg, served as the deputy chief of staff for policy during the administration of former Republican President George W. Bush before joining Meta in 2011. In his new role, Kaplan will oversee global policy for Meta, a position previously held by long-time executive Kevin Martin, also with ties to Republican politics.

Clegg, who joined Meta in 2018 and led efforts on content policy, elections, and the establishment of the company's independent oversight board, announced in social media posts Thursday that it was time for him to step down.

"As a new year begins, I have come to the view that this is the right time for me to move on from my role as President of Global Affairs at Meta," Clegg wrote. "Joel is quite clearly the right person for the right job at the right time."

Kaplan described the leadership change as "bittersweet news" in a comment on Clegg's Facebook post. He has been a polarizing figure at Meta, with some employees accusing him of prioritizing a conservative agenda despite his public stance on political neutrality. A Facebook whistleblower's documents from 2021 revealed that some employees alleged Kaplan made exceptions to content rules to favour Republican figures — a charge Meta has denied.

Additionally, Kaplan's attendance at a 2018 Senate hearing regarding sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, later confirmed as a Supreme Court justice, led to internal criticism. Meta later acknowledged "mistakes handling the events."

Meta's decision to foster a stronger relationship with Trump follows his victory in the November elections. The company has donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund, a shift from its previous practices, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed regret over past content decisions that were unpopular with conservatives. Trump has also praised Zuckerberg's response to a failed assassination attempt on him.

The overtures seem to have eased tensions between Meta and Trump, who was banned from the platform in 2021 after the January 6 Capitol attack by his supporters. Trump has previously accused Meta of suppressing content that would have hurt Joe Biden in the 2020 election and criticized Zuckerberg's donations to support election infrastructure.

By Tamilla Hasanova