Facebook has charter Nick Clegg , the former UK deputy prime minister , as head of spherical affairs and communication . Clegg is n’t very well - regarded in his dwelling house country , but Facebook apparently feels he ’s the man for the job at a time when its influence over politicians is more of the essence than ever .
accord to theFinancial Times , Facebook co - founding father Mark Zuckerberg has spent calendar month “ woo ” Clegg to take on the role . With increase regulative scrutiny in Europe and political fires pertain to Facebook ’s part in society igniting in virtually every recess of the globe , the job is a tough one . Eliot Schrage antecedently held the office for 10 years andleft in June . In August , Facebook ’s top communications executive , Rachel Whetstone , also picture the writing on the paries and head over to thelucrativeand relatively tranquil confines of Netflix .
Clegg confirm his role at Facebook in a , uh , Facebook poston Friday . He wrote , in part :
“ Facebook , WhatsApp , Messenger , Oculus and Instagram are at the sum of so many the great unwashed ’s quotidian lives – but also at the heart of some of the most complex and hard questions we look as a bon ton : the privacy of the somebody ; the unity of our popular process ; the tensions between local cultures and the global internet ; the counterpoise between liberal speech and prohibited contentedness ; the power and concerns around hokey intelligence service ; and the wellbeing of our children .
“ I think that Facebook must go on to represent a part in finding answers to those questions – not by do alone in Silicon Valley , but by working with people , organizations , governments and regulator around the world to ensure that technology is a force for good . ”
We ’ve reached out to Facebook for comment on the hire but did not receive an prompt response .
After a five - yr stint in the European Parliament , Clegg spend a fiddling over a decade head the Liberal Democrats into political devastation . He became deputy prime pastor in 2010 , and it was all downhill from there . The partywent fromholding 57 seats in Parliament to eight in in 2015 . He was ousted from public life in 2017 .
But the Financial Times says that he ’s attractive to Facebook because of his association to member of the European Parliament and broad influence across the continent . Facebook has the occasionaldust - upwith lawmakers in Washington , but that ’s nothing thatrecord - settinglobbying and aPotemkin war roomcan’t jam . Europeans have take grueling positions on increasing privacy protections and penalizing tech companies for irresponsible practice . Facebook ’s latest breach of29 million exploiter ’ datum could leave in a fine of$1.63 billion . And the EU ’s highly misguidedcopyright directivelooms over every tech troupe in 2019 .
Last year , Clegg wrote anop - edfor iNews UK in which he argued that Facebook is not utter but is “ scarcely ” a “ threat to the continued existence of humankind . ” It ’s possible that strong defenses like that made him attractive to Zuckerberg .
Most lately , Clegg has been fighting to stop the Brexit disaster , and it looks like that will be anotherblack markfor his sketch .
[ Financial Times ]
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