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Facebook, which appears to be on the hot seat, on Friday named former British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in a crucial role.
Clegg will be the new head of global affairs and communications for the social networking giant, said Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg in a Friday morning article on Facebook. He will succeed Elliot Schrage, who announced in June that he would leave.
"Our company is on a critical path," Sandberg said in his message. "The challenges we face are serious and clear and we now need more opportunities than ever before to help us despite this period of change." She added that "Clegg's experience and ability to solve Complex issues will be invaluable in the years to come. "
Facebook is grappling with the aftermath of its Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the political data consulting firm had access to information from nearly 87 million Facebook users without their permission. This crisis brought CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Washington for two days of debate in Congress in April.
Last month, Sandberg testified at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing where she was questioned about the role of social media in foreign interference in the US elections, accusing Facebook of bias against the Conservatives , and more. Facebook is not the only one to be under the regulatory microscope: other tech giants are also under pressure because of their growing influence. Sandberg appeared alongside Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, at this hearing. And Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who was clearly absent at the time, is expected to appear before lawmakers in the coming weeks.
Clegg, who led the Liberal Democrats for several years and was Britain's No. 2 politician from 2010 to 2015, could play a decisive role as Facebook seeks to improve its relations with European regulators, who are turning to American giants of technology. For example, European politicians and regulators have criticized the low taxes that companies pay – Clegg was one of those critics – and Facebook is on that list.
The appointment of a politician in an operational role – not a seat on the board of directors – gives Facebook's management a "meaningless" appearance, said the group's technical analyst Rob Enderle Enderle.
"Politicians are both blessed in that they can have some influence on their own party but would probably be viewed negatively by those of competing parties," Enderle said Friday. "Coming from the UK, which participates in Brexit, would further reduce their effectiveness in the EU, where Facebook is experiencing its most serious problems."
Speaking of problems, Clegg will deal with many on behalf of Facebook as he moves through the pond.
More recently, the company revealed another problem that could further damage users' trust and increase the number of calls to its regulation: hackers were able to access information from tens of millions of dollars. 39; users.
In addition, a new lawsuit accuses Facebook of having inflated its advertising surveillance metrics up to 900% – and to have been aware of the error for more than a year. a year before revealing it.
To top it off, there are new calls to Facebook to separate the roles of CEO and President, who are both owned by Zuckerberg. Facebook shareholders have rejected earlier efforts, but now four officials, who oversee public pension funds investing in the company, have submitted another proposal. But Facebook's shareholding structure provides Zuckerberg with a disproportionate control: he holds about 60% of the voting shares.
