Meta has named a new global policy chief to replace outgoing president Nick Clegg, who oversaw mass censorship on the Meta-owned platforms Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
As President-elect Donald Trump is set to be sworn in, Big Tech executives have rushed to cozy up to him in what could be an attempt to prevent promised reforms. Meanwhile, Meta has made an announcement that The Federalist editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway called a “vibe shift.” Joel Kaplan, a former George W. Bush White House Chief of Staff, will take over Clegg’s role.
Hemingway reacted to the news of Kaplan’s appointment Jan. 2 with an optimistic assessment, writing on X, “When he merely *attended* the confirmation hearing of his long-time friend Brett Kavanaugh, the fascists at Facebook nearly got him ousted, aided by the propaganda press. I'd say it's definitely a vibe shift.” Kaplan’s elevation comes after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who admitted in a letter this year to censoring free speech under federal government duress, went in November to meet with Trump, who has repeatedly touted his dedication to free speech.
“After years of witnessing how the Biden administration punished and pummelled anyone who dared to disagree with his woke agenda, Big Tech execs have been hedging their bets,” said MRC VP for Free Speech Dan Schneider. “Trump is not thuggish like the outgoing administration, but Facebook is turning to someone who can probably better work with Republicans. But changing name plates better come with changes to policies. Big Tech censorship and election interference must stop. Putting an American lawyer at the helm is a good start.”
Leftist outlet Semafor claimed Kaplan has been outspoken against censorship, writing: “Kaplan, who was White House Deputy Chief of Staff under George W. Bush (R), has been one of the most forceful voices inside Meta against restrictions on political speech, arguing internally that such policies would disproportionately mute conservative voices.” The outlet linked to another leftist rag, a Washington Post report from 2020, as a source for support. Semafor further cited Zuckerberg’s congratulatory response to Trump’s election and recent meeting with him.
Kaplan isn’t the only internal change, according to Semafor. Kevin Martin, the “just-elevated” Meta vice president of global public policy, was previously appointed to the Federal Communications Commission by George W. Bush. It remains to be seen if these two executive changes will reduce the amount of censorship on the platform, or if this is a pretense at change without significant reforms, as Hemingway suggested.
“CNN's Democrat activist Brian Stelter says Mark Zuckerberg ‘moves to the right’ because he has promoted a single Republican at Meta,” Hemingway wrote in a separate post. “Zuck will have to do far far far more than that -- including ceasing the censorship of the right -- to get any such credit.”
Reform is certainly needed. MRC Free Speech America ranked Meta platforms—including Facebook and Instagram—as some of the worst censors of 2024 for egregious election-interfering censorship, including censoring the iconic image of a bloody but defiant Trump after the July assassination attempt. Clegg, whom Kaplan is replacing, bragged in July that Meta was “getting better” at silencing election-related “disinformation.” At the start of 2024, Clegg admitted on CNBC News that a majority of the company’s employees (40,000 Meta employees, about 60%) were involved in censorship activities.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Facebook headquarters at (650) 308-7300 and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “misinformation” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
