Meta replaced the head of global affairs ahead of Trump’s inauguration

Facebook parent Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg is being replaced by Joel Kaplan, the company’s current vice president of policy and a former Republican operative.

The shakeup comes three weeks before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration and is the latest sign of how tech companies are positioning themselves for the new administration in Washington.

Britain’s former deputy prime minister Clegg has announced his resignation, citing the new year as the right time to move forward. He will be replaced by Kaplan, who will be named Chief Global Affairs Officer.

Kaplan was a staffer under former President George W. Bush, and he appeared on the NYSE with JD Vance as vice president-elect and Trump in December. He also attended Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing in 2018. as a personal friendcauses dispute for a social media company.

“I look forward to spending the next few months handing over the reins and representing the company at a number of international meetings in the first quarter of this year,” Clegg said in a memo to staff. He shared it on Facebook on Thursday.

Clegg joined the company in 2018 after a career in British politics with the Liberal Democrat party, where he helped Meta conduct incredible research, particularly on the company’s election influence and efforts to police harmful content. Clegg also helped lead the company through the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which Facebook shared user data with third-party political consultants. He also represented the company on and off frequent AI panels in Washington, D.C. and London congressional hearings.

“My time at the company has coincided with a significant reshaping of the relationship between ‘big tech’ and societal pressures, manifested in new laws, institutions and norms impacting the sector,” Clegg wrote.

Kevin Martin, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, will replace Kaplan as Meta’s vice president of global policy, Clegg said in a memo. He noted that Kaplan will work closely with the company’s vice president of global communications and public relations, David Ginsburg.

“Nick: I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for Meta and the world over the last seven years,” said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. You have “put together a strong team to take this work forward. I am delighted that Joel will step into this role, given his deep experience and insight that has guided our policy for many years.”

Semafor was the first to report news.

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