Meta trades left-wing policy chief for Republican in major overhaul

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta announced a major overhaul of its global policy team on Thursday – pushing out left-leaning department chief Nick Clegg and replacing him with the company’s best-known Republican, Joel Kaplan.Kaplan, who once served as deputy chief of staff for George W.Bush, is set to take over the reins of the Facebook and Instagram owner just days before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Clegg, the former Liberal Democrat party leader in the UK, has led Meta’s policy team since 2018 – a time when conservatives began ramping up claims that their viewpoints were being suppressed by the social media giant.Those efforts became most evident when Facebook suppressed The Post’s reporting of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal shortly before the 2020 election.The social media platform also banned Donald Trump following the Jan.

6 riots at the Capitol.However, the leadership shakeup is the latest sign of Zuckerberg’s ongoing effort to cozy up to the president-elect.In November, the tech titan raced to Mar-a-Lago for dinner with Trump after reportedly requesting a meeting to discuss “the incoming administration.”Shortly after the meeting, Clegg said that Zuckerberg was aiming to have “an active role in the debates that any administration needs to have about maintaining America’s leadership in the technological sphere … and particularly the pivotal role that AI will play.”Meta also donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.Zuckerberg thanked Clegg for his seven years of service in showing him the door.“I’ve learned so much working with you and our whole team is better for having this opportunity,” he wrote in a comment on Clegg’s Facebook post announcing the transition.“I’m excited for Joel to step into this role next given his deep experience and insight leading our policy work for many years.” Clegg said he would be “spending a few months handing over the reins” to Kaplan before heading on to what he desc...