How Joel Kaplan has become the most trusted political firm in Mark Zuckerberg

When Mark Zuckerberg announced his reform “Freedom of Expression” to the moderation of dead content in January, the unexpected axis was the coronation of months of planning with a coherent inner circle led by one main consultant: Republican pressure groups Joel Kaplan.

According to the interviews with the current and previous multiple Dead Employees have risen over the past decade to become the most confident political installer in Zuckerberg, and now the general face of the social media platform of $ 1.7 trillion, as it adapts large technology to Donald Trump.

The conservative number was upgraded to the head of global affairs shortly before Zuckerberg announced that the company will be established Reducing moderation policies And abandon the facts. The former deputy prime minister in the United Kingdom replaces Nick Cling.

Many former employees claim that over the past decade, Kaplan has interfered in politics decisions, such as whether the content should remain awake or descend. They said that in some cases it exceeded the logical basis of the model policy of the company or other makers of the great decision to appease the right numbers, fearing that it would complain of censorship.

“Until recently,” said one of the senior former employees who worked closely.

“This is a very sensitive political dance that Joel was helping Mark to move,” said Katie Harbith, the former policy manager who worked with Kaplan on a dead election strategy for a decade. “But it was complicated with some of the most difficult bars.”

In its first weeks of this role, Kaplan attended the White House with Zuckerberg, and went in a magic attack in Europe, where leaders such as Georgia Meloni meet in Italy and Mr. Kerr Starmer in the United Kingdom. “He has Mark’s ear in a way that no one does,” said one of the people who worked closely with Kaplan.

For some of the informed, Kaplan is the reliable power broker that Zuckerberg needs to help him attract current management and protect the company’s final result, as Trump threatens companies that do not reach heels with revenge.

For critics, Kaplan’s focus on optics came on the account of online safety, and risks the expression of some employees, a fashion policy related to moderate content, as well as artificial smart studies and ethics.

He also faced reputation strikes, including the disclosure of the last sexual harassment allegations of a former executive in Meta, noon this week.

The educated Kaplan at Harvard University joined Meta, then Facebook, in 2011 after the work periods as a writer of the former Supreme Supreme Court, Antonin Scalia, an official in the Marine Corps, and the Deputy Chief of Politics Staff at the White House during the George W. Bush administration.

The current and former colleagues describe him as a respectable legal expert playing a major role in expanding the scope of pressure in Mita and regularly sought inputs of their counterparts regardless of their policies.

“In an era, everyone is extremely impressive, it is impressive in his ability to work with everyone through the spectrum,” said Elliot Shreg, former CEO of Mita.

His promotion comes at a time when Zuckerberg sought to rebuild relations with Trump, and to follow up on organizational support for his plans to make Mita “Amnesty International’s leader”. Trump previously accused the billionaire of control and threatened to throw him in prison because of the alleged election intervention.

Kaplan pushed and helped formulate changes in moderation, which was widely seen as a step to satisfy Trump, and was welcomed by the president.

One of those familiar with Meta said they felt that Kaplan had an effective role in ensuring that the Lama’s great model of artificial intelligence from AI was neutral instead of sharing any political opinion before the American elections.

The person said that Kaplan also played a role in implementing Meta’s decision to allow the use of AI models for the company for American military purposes.

His republican relations caused controversy with colleagues with leftist tendencies. In 2018, the barbecue of Congress attended his friend and a supermuded candidate at the time, Brett Cavano as a support. This step caused a stir between some Meta employees due to allegations that Cavano had committed a sexual assault when he was a teenager, and he denied him.

Kaplan addressed the case with Facebook staff, but then continued to host a party for Kavanau when he won the filter, causing more internal discomfort.

In another episode, after Trump wrote a controversial function stating that “when the looting begins, the shooting begins” in 2020 during the Black Lives protests, Kaplan advised the Trump team on how the president’s sites remain without breaking the platform policies about the occurrence of violence, according to two people who have a direct knowledge of the article. They argued that this exceeded the typical processes.

After those conversations, Trump added a leaflet explaining: “I don’t want this to happen. Trump was later suspended from the platform in the wake of the riots in January 6 due to multiple policy violations.

“There is a written procedure and there is a Joel procedure.” “Joel will win every time. Nick (Cling) was a world power. But in the United States, Joel was always. He is the first among equal.” Meta refused to comment on the matter.

Kaplan was scrutinized this week after a New book By the former CEO of Mita Sarah Win Williams accused him of sexual harassment, including inappropriate comments. When a complaint was filed against Kaplan internally, she claims to be expelled in revenge in 2017.

Meta said that Wayne Williams, married to the FT editor, was rejected “due to poor performance and toxic behavior” and Kaplan was cleared after she decided an internal investigation “she clarified misleading allegations and not suitable for harassment.”

On Wednesday, Mita obtained a ruling from an arbitrator who temporarily prohibits the author to promote the book.

Kaplan’s allies consider him a vital power of the company, as leaders such as Starmer and Meloni conducted fruitful discussions with him on his European tour, according to political advisers who were briefed on the meetings.

Trump is a defender of American business against a wave of organization coming from the European Union, according to persons familiar with his thinking.

“When companies are dealt with differently in a discriminatory way against them, this must be highlighted on the government of that company’s home,” Kaplan told Munich last month. “So I think we will do it with President Trump.”

One of those familiar with Meta referred to a speech by JD Vance last month in Paris, where the vice president of the “excessive organization” of the AI ​​sector exploded by the European Union. The person said: “The speech was similar to the talk points about Meta,” adding that he seemed as if he could have said Kaplan himself.

Participated in additional reports from Anna Gross in London, Henry Foy in Brussels and Amy Kazmen in Rome