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By Gareth Fuller / PA Images / Getty Images.
Facebook has finally filled the hole left by Elliot Schrage, the powerful chief of communications who was one of the Mark Zuckerberg closest allies, although Schrage's replacement does not seem very enthusiastic about the work. Nick Clegg, The former British Deputy Prime Minister and former leader of the Liberal Democrats transferred his family from the United Kingdom in January to Silicon Valley to head international affairs and communications after months of courtesy from Zuckerberg. Clegg had originally shot the Facebook C.E.O. low he told the BBC, but was finally persuaded. ("In this funny way, if you say no to people, they suddenly become very interested in you.") This new position naturally includes its own public relations deployment, including several interviews and an editorial for The Guardian. Clegg himself, however, seems somewhat ambivalent. "I never wanted to lobby," he said in an interview with the Financial Times. "I never wanted to be an emissary for a company. Of course, I will defend that, it will be part of my role and I will communicate what Facebook is doing. "
In his interview with the BBC, Clegg acknowledged that he had reservations about joining Facebook, known for his strict hierarchy, under the sometimes imperial leadership of Zuckerberg.
Sir Nick claims to have asked for and received assurances about the centrality of his role in the company. "I told them, if you're ready to let me into the tight circle, into the black box, and give me real authority, then I'm interested."
He described Mr. Zuckerberg as "a shy guy" and "thoughtful". He said that he was not "delusional about the reputation" of the company.
But, he says, "what convinced me to do it, is that Mark and Sheryl were asking the right questions for the right reasons. . . on elements such as the barrier between freedom of expression and prohibited content, the well-being of children, the integrity of elections, I.I. and the ability for users to control their data. "
Clegg's relationship with Facebook is complex, as for many. "I'm not particularly amazed by Facebook," he wrote in a 2016 column London Evening Standard. "I find the Californian Messianic culture of Facebook's new worldly-piquant world a little raspy." Now he will be the global ambassador of these values. Clegg will notably be responsible for improving Facebook's relations with Brussels, where the European Commission and its competition commissioner, the brewer Margrethe Vestager, have taken a resolutely hostile stance on Big Tech. The fact that Facebook has chosen a former British politician expresses his fear of new regulations: in 2017, the European Commission fined the company 94 million pounds. The company provided the company with "misleading" information about its $ 19 billion WhatsApp acquisition in 2014. It was fined £ 500,000 for failing to protect user information related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Nevertheless, Clegg said he was bittersweet to part with the world of British politics. "I have mixed feelings about leaving the British public debate on the future of our country's relations with the rest of Europe," he wrote in The Guardian. He told the BBC: "Obviously, my feelings are shared." (He slightly changed things for the F.T. telling the newspaper that he was experiencing "very shared feelings" when he left the public debate, "especially about Brexit".) Whatever it is, Clegg says he is looking forward to to find a new job – and, without a doubt, a compensation program far exceeding the £ 75,000 that he earned during his last year as a deputy – even if it means becoming the public face of the "grumpy" society that he has already accused of tax evasion insofar as it targets an endless attack of public relations disasters.
Nevertheless, Clegg is ready to take up the challenge and the salary. "I'm 51 and I'm part of this generation of politicians – Osborne, Cameron, Danny Alexander, Milibands – where you have to reinvent yourself," he said. "I thought I could do this academically, as a commentator, run a start-up, but then, I thought, for a penny, for a pound."
