Clegg ‘risks reputation’ with Facebook job
NICK Clegg risks ruining his reputation unless he turns Facebook into a ‘powerful voice for liberalism’, Paddy Ashdown has warned.
The barbed comment about his fellow former Lib Dem leader came as MPs accused Sir Nick of hypocrisy for taking a top job at the web giant he has been so critical of in the past.
‘My good friend Nick Clegg’s reputation as a powerful voice for liberalism and democracy will now depend on his ability to persuade Facebook to be a global campaigner for the same values,’ tweeted Lord Ashdown, who led the party between 1988 and 1999,
Sir Nick announced on Friday he would become the spin doctor for the social media giant, which has come under fire for allowing terrorist propaganda, far-Right hate
‘Months of wooing’
speech and child sex abuse images. The former deputy PM, 51, starts as head of global affairs and policy in the seven-figure salary role this morning.
US media say he will be in the company’s Menlo Park headquarters in California for a week before returning with his family fulltime in January.
Sir Nick will report directly to Facebook’s number two Sheryl Sandberg, who over the weekend described Sir Nick as a ‘thoughtful and gifted leader’ who ‘understands deeply the responsibilities we have to people who use our service around the world’.
A picture posted by Miss Sandberg on her Facebook page showed Sir Nick, billionaire founder Mark Zuckerberg and herself deep in discussion.
Sir Nick admitted he initially turned the company down but changed his mind after what insiders called ‘months of wooing’. The appointment has attracted widespread criticism – partly because of Sir Nick’s past attacks on the Silicon Valley giant.
In a newspaper article two years ago, he wrote: ‘I’m not especially bedazzled by Facebook. While I have good friends who work at the company, I actually find the messianic Californian new-worldy-touchyfeely culture of Facebook a little grating. Nor am I sure that companies such as Facebook really pay all the tax they could.’
Sir Nick, who served as deputy Prime Minister to David Cameron between 2010 and 2015, is likely to attract a salary of at least $ 1million (£ 765,000), plus share options on top.
At a conference in London last November, he once again took a swipe at web companies. ‘The big five [tech firms] are in danger of being seen in the same light as bankers or even politicians. Some of that anger, for example on tax, is in my view both predictable and legitimate. The big firms have much more to do to prove that they are good global citizens,’ he said.
But Sir Nick has since defended Facebook and claimed it was ‘unfairly caricatured’.
James Cleverly, deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, responded to the news writing: ‘I don’t have a problem with Nick Clegg getting a high paid job with Facebook. But he shouldn’t pretend that it’s some form of noble, moral, higher calling.’