Nick Clegg’s new role at Facebook

FORMER deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg will take up a senior post at global social media giant Facebook.

The ex-Liberal Democrat leader was unveiled yesterday as the firm’s head of global affairs and communications.

Writing on the platform, the 51-year-old said it was “an exciting new adventure” and he would move to the US with his family in January to work at the Menlo Park headquarters in California’s Silicon Valley.

It comes as Mark Zuckerberg seeks to repair the company’s reputation in the face of rows over transparency and the role of “fake news” on the platform after the 2016 EU referendum and the 2017 election of Donald Trump as US President.

Labour said it was “a damning indictment of the sorry state of our country’s politics” that he was becoming a lobbyist for the firm while it is under investigation both in the UK and by the European Union.

Writing on Facebook, Sir Nick said the firm and its apps, including Whatsapp and Instagram, were “at the heart of some of the most complex and difficult questions we face as a society” over individual privacy, democratic integrity, the balance between free speech and prohibition online, artificial intelligence and the wellbeing of children.

He added: “I believe Facebook must continue to play a role in finding answers to those questions by working with people, to ensure technology is a force for good. I am looking forward to being part of this endeavour.”