Era Of Big Tech Censorship Takes Another Blow As Facebook Puts Republican In Key Position
Daily CallerJan 02
Meta Names Former Republican Staffer Joel Kaplan Policy Chief
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The Facts
Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will be replacing Nick Clegg, its global head of policy since 2018, with former Republican staffer Joel Kaplan. Clegg confirmed his resignation Thursday in a memo.
Kaplan, who joined Meta in 2011 and had been reporting to Clegg, served as White House deputy chief of staff to Republican Pres. George W. Bush and was also a former clerk for conservative US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Over the course of his tenure at Meta, Kaplan has faced accusations of conservative bias. In 2021, a whistleblower released a document showing employees had accused him of skirting rules for content allegedly favorable to Republican politicians. Around this time, Meta also faced allegations of suppressing conservatives' opinions.
The Spin
Right narrative
Zuckerberg has spoken out against censorship and admitted Meta made mistakes along these lines in the past. Now he's backing his words with actions by promoting Kaplan, who has proven himself a warrior for free speech. Under Clegg, censorship proliferated at Facebook, but now there'll be less stifling of different worldviews.
Left narrative
While much of Silicon Valley scrambles to court Trump, Meta is positioning itself to stand out with a Republican operative in charge of its content curation. Zuckerberg, who once sought to distance himself from politics, has now made a large contribution to Trump and met with the incoming president — who, not long ago, threatened to jail him.
