Sir Nick Clegg to leave Meta ahead of Trump’s return
Former Deputy Prime Minister Sir Nick Clegg is to step down from his current role as president of global affairs at social media giant Meta.
Former Lib Dem leader Sir Nick posted on Meta’s Facebook on Thursday that he would be leaving the company after almost seven years on the job.
He will be succeeded by his current deputy, Republican Joel Kaplan, who served as White House deputy chief of staff during the administration of President George W. Bush and is known for his work on the company’s relationship with Republicans.
He added that he would spend “several months handing over the reins” and representing Facebook at international gatherings before embarking on a “new adventure.”
Sir Nick’s resignation comes just weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
The president-elect has repeatedly accused Meta and other platforms of censorship and silencing conservative speech.
Facebook and Instagram suspended the former president’s account for two years in 2021 after he said he praised those who participated in violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6. nervous.
Most recently, Trump threatened to jail Zuckerberg if he interfered in the 2024 election, and even called Facebook became the “enemy of the people” in March.
However, tensions between the pair appear to be easing, with the pair dining at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida since the US election.
Mr Zuckerberg also congratulated him on his victory and donated $1 million (£786,000) to the inaugural fund.
Some analysts believe Sir Nick’s departure is recognition of a changing of the guard in Washington.
He joined Facebook in 2018 after losing his parliamentary seat in 2017. He was later promoted to president of global affairs, an important position at Meta.
In a statement announcing his resignation, Sir Nick said his successor, Joel Caplan, was “clearly the right man for the right job at the right time”.
Last month, Trump posed for a photo with Kaplan at the New York Stock Exchange.
During his time at Meta, Sir Nick became not only a spokesperson but also a bridge between government, regulators and technology companies.
This role has become critical as new regulations and legislation begin to force social media companies to take more responsibility for the content on their platforms and its consequences.
He oversaw the creation of the Oversight Board, an independent body designed to oversee Meta’s content moderation decisions.
However, he recently said the company’s actions resulted in some people being regularly “unfairly punished” on its platform.
Sir Nick has also spoken out about his views on close Trump ally Elon Musk, calling him a political puppet master and claiming he has turned X (formerly Twitter) into “a one-man hyper-partisan Trojan horse”.
The former Lib Dem leader initially moved to Silicon Valley but returned to London in 2022.
He said he moved on to “new adventures” with “tremendous gratitude and pride” in what he had been a part of.
“During my time at the company, there has been a significant realignment of the relationship between ‘Big Tech’ and the social pressures reflected in the new laws, institutions and norms affecting the industry,” he said.
“I hope I have played some role in seeking to bridge the two very different worlds of technology and politics—worlds that will continue to interact in unpredictable ways around the globe.”
