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© Provided by Daily MailRob Leathern, Director of Product Management, left Facebook on December 30
Facebook’s advertising integrity chief, who managed the company’s advertising products around sensitive topics such as coronavirus policy and disinformation, left this week, according to an internal company post seen by Reuters Friday.
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Rob Leathern, director of product management, said earlier this month on Facebook’s internal network that he would be leaving the company on December 30. His exit had not been reported before.
Facebook did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s requests on Friday regarding his departure.
Leathern said in the internal post that he was “ leaving Facebook to work on consumer privacy beyond ads and social media, ” without revealing where he was heading.
In a series of tweets on Friday, Leathern wrote that on Facebook he had “ had a great deal of experience in a difficult, fun, fast-growing and impactful role in the company working with amazing people. ”
“While I’m not going to be working directly on the ads, this will be part of what I’m working on because I will stay in the tech / data / privacy space,” he continued.
© Provided by Daily MailLeathern said in the internal post that he was “ leaving Facebook to work on consumer privacy beyond ads and social media, ” without revealing where he was heading.
Leathern has promised to share more information on his next steps in “the week or two.”
He had been working at Facebook since February 2017, according to his LinkedIn page. His previous experience included stints at LinkedIn and a startup he founded.
Leathern was often the public face of Facebook’s controversial political advertising policies.
Ahead of the November 3 U.S. election, Facebook came under heavy criticism for refusing to verify the facts in political ads, leading to accusations that it allowed misleading claims and conspiracy theories to spread widely across its borders. platforms.
In November, Leathern tweeted that Facebook did not have “the short-term technical capacity to allow political ads by state or by advertiser.”
Facebook subsequently lifted a temporary post-election ban on political ads in Georgia ahead of the Jan. 5 run-off that will determine which party controls the US Senate.
Asked what has changed since Leathern’s tweet, a Facebook spokesperson said the company has decided to implement a temporary solution that allows advertisers to be manually allowed to serve ads.
The ban on political ads in other states will remain, the social media giant said in a blog post. A Facebook spokeswoman declined to say when this blanket ban would be lifted.
© Provided by Daily MailIn November, Leathern tweeted that Facebook did not have “ the short-term technical capacity to allow political ads by state or by advertiser ”
© Provided by Daily MailFacebook subsequently lifted a temporary post-election ban on political ads in Georgia ahead of the Jan.5 run-off that will determine which party controls the US Senate.
Facebook and Google introduced pauses on political ads after the presidential election as part of measures to tackle disinformation and other abuse on the sites.
Google lifted its hiatus last month, saying it no longer viewed the post-election period as a “ sensitive event. ”
Facebook product manager Sarah Schiff wrote in the blog that the company had over the past few weeks heard comments “ from experts and advertisers from all political backgrounds about the importance of speaking and use our tools to reach voters ahead of the second round of elections in Georgia. ”
In the blog, Schiff said that Facebook would “ prioritize integrating advertisers with direct involvement in these elections, including campaigns, state and local election officials, and state and national political parties. ”
Leathern is leaving the company just weeks after Facebook slammed Apple in a series of newspaper ads about upcoming changes to iPhone privacy that the social media giant says would devastate small businesses that are ‘rely on targeted ads – and accused the other tech giant of anti-competitive behavior.
At the heart of the problem are the changes to Apple’s iOS 14.4, which will go live next year and will require users to give permission so that apps can track them for advertising purposes. Facebook says Apple’s own personalized advertising platform will be exempt from the new promptness requirement that the iPhone maker plans to impose on other companies.
Facebook has accused Apple of engaging in anti-competitive practices with the changes, which it says will cut small businesses off desperately needed customers.
But Facebook has also been at the center of major anti-trust lawsuits, including one by the Federal Trade Commission and at least 48 states.
The FTC accuses the social media giant of abusing its dominant position in the market.
“Facebook’s actions to consolidate and maintain its monopoly in order to deprive consumers of the benefits of competition. Our goal is to reverse Facebook’s anti-competitive behavior and restore competition so that innovation and open competition can flourish, ”Ian Conner, director of the FTC’s Competition Bureau, said in a statement.
As a result, the FTC is seeking a permanent injunction that would force Facebook to divest itself of its assets, effectively dismantling it. These assets include Instagram, which he bought for $ 1 billion in 2012, and WhatsApp, which he bought for $ 19 billion in 2014.
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