Facebook's Top Politician

Nick Clegg has joined the innermost circle at Meta. What, if anything, does that change?

- Joshua Brustein

Shortly after Russian troops invaded his country in February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sent separate letters to Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. He wanted them to block Russia’s state-backed media outlets from posting to Facebook in Ukraine; he also asked that they cut off Facebook and Instagram in Russia itself.

Neither Zuckerberg nor Sandberg responded. Instead, Zelenskiy heard from Nick Clegg, Britain’s former deputy prime minister, who’s worked the past three years as a high-ranking executive at Meta. Clegg, who spent his political career as a Liberal Democrat, had talked to Zelenskiy several months earlier, on a video chat in which the Ukrainian president pitched him and Sandberg on opening an office in the country. Now, Clegg told Zelenskiy that Meta would block Russian media in Ukraine but would not stop operating in Russia, arguing its services helped people there organize protests and get reliable information.

Clegg was also talking to Russian officials, who demanded that Facebook stop fact-checking posts from state-backed media accounts. When he refused, they first throttled, then blocked the social network from operating in the country, partially doing for Zelenskiy what Clegg wouldn’t.

He’s remained in contact with Zelenskiy and his staff by email, sending them regular updates on Meta’s efforts to protect Ukrainian users from Russian reprisals—with such features as the ability to lock their accounts or hide their friends list— and on the company’s decision to block ads from Russian businesses.