Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has promoted the company’s top political officer, Nick Clegg, to president of global affairs, Zuckerberg said in a message Wednesday, reducing his own role in corporate policy decisions. ‘business.
Clegg, who previously served as Britain’s deputy prime minister, joined Facebook as vice president for global affairs and communications in 2018.
He was instrumental in creating the Oversight Board – a regulatory group that was formed in 2020 to make decisions independently of Facebook management.
Clegg’s promotion is the latest public change for the company, which has made a number of substantial changes in recent months as it refocuses its efforts on building the metaverse – a digital world where users can meet in reality. Virtual.
In a post on his personal Facebook page, Zuckerberg said Clegg’s new role would give him more authority to address regulatory issues in the new metaverse world. Clegg will “lead our company on all of our policy issues,” Zuckerberg wrote — including developing policies with international governments and “public advocacy for our products and work.”
He added that the new role would bring Clegg “up to par” with himself and Sheryl Sandberg, who is the company’s chief operating officer.
“As Nick takes on this new leadership role, it will allow me to focus more of my energy on leading the business as we build new products for the future, and it will support Sheryl as she continues to focus. on the success of our business,” Zuckerberg wrote.
Clegg joined the company in 2018, when Facebook was facing intense pressure over its policies during the 2016 US presidential election. He also helped the company overcome controversy around Facebook’s role in the persecution of Rohingya in Myanmar, and more recently revelations made by whistleblower Frances Haugen.
As Meta moves forward with its plans for the Metaverse, it will face intense scrutiny from regulators on how it can avoid such pitfalls in the future. In his own article, Sandberg echoed Zuckerberg’s sentiment on the need to be proactive about regulation.
“The next few years will be a critical time for our business and our industry as new rules for the internet are written around the world and we begin our journey to help build the metaverse,” she said. “Nick’s calm and principled leadership will continue to be an asset to Meta in the months and years to come.”
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