Meta policy head Clegg receives promotion to be on par with Zuckerberg and Sandberg | ZDNet

Meta, formerly Facebook, has promoted its top policy executive Nick Clegg to a newly created president of global affairs role.

Clegg has worked at Meta for over three years. Prior to joining Facebook as its global affairs vice president in 2018, Clegg had served as Britain’s deputy prime minister.

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in a post on his personal Facebook page, said Clegg’s new role will see him lead Meta on all of its policy matters. It will also put him “at the level” of Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, the company’s chief operating officer.

“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.

“It will enable me to focus more of my energy on leading the company as we build new products for the future, and it will support Sheryl as she continues to focus on the success of our business.”

During Clegg’s tenure at Meta so far, the former politician has been one of the company’s primary voices in addressing controversies such as the Facebook platform’s role in sparking the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar and the recent revelations from whistleblower Frances Haugen. 

Read more: Meta’s threat to leave Europe hints at waning big tech influence

He also had input in the company’s decision to introduce an independent oversight board, which advised the social network last week to change its policy regarding the accessibility of a person’s address, even if it is considered “publicly available”.

Other Meta movements include vice president of product, choice, and competition David Ginsberg being promoted to a new communications and public affairs head role, where he will report to Clegg.

Clegg’s promotion is the latest public shift for the company, which rebranded to Meta last year to try and diversify towards web3 technology. Meta’s effort to change route has faced numerous hurdles so far, however, with cryptocurrency play Diem Association shuttering at the start of this month after it “became clear” regulators would never let the project move ahead. 

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