As defined by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg:

“I’ve requested Nick Clegg to tackle a brand new place as President, World Affairs. For the final three years, Nick has managed a few of the most advanced points our firm faces – together with content material coverage, elections, the institution of the Oversight Board, and extra. Nick will now lead our firm on all our coverage issues, together with how we work together with governments as they take into account adopting new insurance policies and laws, in addition to how we make the case publicly for our merchandise and our work.”

As Zuckerberg notes, Clegg, who as soon as served because the Deputy Prime Minister within the UK, has been Meta’s entrance man in explaining its place on varied difficult parts. Clegg has turn out to be identified for his lengthy op-eds and weblog posts, which search to re-frame sure narratives. And whereas there’s an plain credibility to having such a excessive profile former politician as its spokeperson on such issues, there have additionally been questions on Meta’s method, because it leans into politicization and spin, as a part of its PR effort.

Certainly, a key concern on this respect is that by appointing a profession politician (Clegg served as a British MP for 12 years), that then adjustments the motivations for Meta’s PR outreach and disclosure, as a result of the motivations for a politician are very completely different to these usually adopted by a personal firm on this respect.

For a politician, all PR is about successful, about framing the opposition as unfavorable, and diluting their factors, whereas additionally highlighting the positives of your individual insurance policies and stances, typically in a completely biased and particularly angled manner.

For Meta, that’s not essentially a superb factor, as a result of that might then result in it downplaying unfavorable studies and insights, with a purpose to ‘win’ by showcasing advantages, or at least, watering down such criticism.

In Meta’s case, in working the largest inter-connected community of people in historical past, it has large potential to affect key parts, and trigger seismic shifts within the political panorama, whereas additionally facilitating misinformation and different potential harms on a large scale.

We all know this, and we additionally know that Clegg’s place on such up to now has certainly been to play it down, and level to conflicting proof as a way to deflect accountability and counter scrutiny.

Is {that a} good factor? Ought to Meta be seeking to deflect and redirect, when it may very well be taking a deeper take a look at its operations as an alternative, and addressing these key issues, fairly than avoiding them?

That’ll be a fair larger query within the coming metaverse shift, with many individuals already elevating issues concerning the potential harms of harassment and abuse in these extra immersive digital areas. If something, Meta’s instruments will doubtless have much more influence shifting ahead, and as such, it’ll have to be held accountable, and pushed to handle these points, fairly than minimizing them because it seeks to dominate the following tech house.

Meta needs to ‘transfer quick’ and ‘construct superior issues’, however that additionally requires deeper consideration of the impacts of such too, and whereas Clegg could also be good at rebutting claims, that will not be the very best method.

However Meta can be a personal firm, and as such, it could take no matter method it deems slot in countering such narratives.

Zuckerberg says that Clegg’s new appointment will allow him to focus extra vitality on main the corporate, whereas it’ll additionally assist CTO Sheryl Sandberg as she continues to concentrate on different parts, versus each being known as upon to defend Meta’s place.

So anticipate extra lengthy essays from Clegg explaining why theories about Meta’s unfavorable affect are flawed, and why the metaverse might be actually, actually good, regardless of issues.

Which, to me no less than, is unquestionably a priority in itself.