'Russia vs Meta' Fierce Battle Without Mark Zuckerberg?

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta [Photo by Reuters]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] On the 24th of last month, when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, sent letters to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, and Sheryl Sandberg, COO, respectively. President Zelensky requested that Facebook block content posted by Russian state media within Ukraine and also suspend the operation of Facebook and Instagram in Russia.

The person who replied to President Zelensky's letter was neither CEO Zuckerberg nor COO Sandberg. It was Nick Clegg, the President of Global Affairs at Meta, who had taken on the role just one month earlier and is a former UK Deputy Prime Minister. Having already had a video call with President Zelensky several months prior, he responded that while Meta could block Russian media content within Ukraine, shutting down operations in Russia would be difficult as it could disrupt the flow of information.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the responses of social networking services (SNS) have been receiving increasing attention, and President Clegg faced his first major test. Just one month after taking charge of Meta's global policy in place of CEO Zuckerberg, a major issue arose. On the 16th (local time), Bloomberg News published an article titled "Nick Clegg, not Mark Zuckerberg, handles Meta's Russia-related issues," summarizing Clegg's actions regarding the Russia-Ukraine situation.

Bloomberg reported, "President Clegg is in continuous communication with President Zelensky's side via email," adding, "In contrast, the relationship with Vladimir Putin's Russian regime is less cooperative."

Nick Clegg, Meta President

After sending the letter to President Zelensky, President Clegg also contacted Russian government officials. The Russian government requested that Facebook stop posting fact-check posts on content uploaded by Russian state media, but Clegg refused. The Russian government continued to apply pressure and eventually blocked operations within its territory, making it impossible to operate.

This back-and-forth was evident in the decisions exchanged between Meta and the Russian government. On the 25th of last month, Meta took measures to downgrade the Facebook and Instagram accounts of Russian state media. Subsequently, earlier this month, the Russian government blocked access to Facebook, citing discrimination against or dissemination of false information by its state media. On the 10th, when Meta announced it would temporarily allow hate speech related to President Putin, such as "death to Russian invaders," the Russian government strongly protested and launched investigations to criminally punish such expressions. In response, Meta clarified that posts calling for the assassination of President Putin or other national leaders would not be allowed.

As Russia's airstrikes on Ukraine continue into the third week, the impact of SNS on this crisis is expected to remain a focus of attention. Meta is at the center of this, and President Clegg's decisions on Meta's response are anticipated to influence other SNS platforms as well.

Joining Facebook in 2018 as head of policy and communications, President Clegg is now one of Meta's key figures. One month ago, CEO Zuckerberg promoted him to President, placing him on the same level as himself and COO Sandberg, introducing him as holding core decision-making authority at Meta. Reflecting this, it is reported that earlier this year, Clegg received company stock worth $12.3 million (approximately 15 billion KRW), among other substantial compensation.

Some voices criticize Zuckerberg's announcement that Clegg would handle all global policy issues as merely a superficial gesture with no real change in practice.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.