Facebook Turns to U.K. Politician to Help Repair Its Image

By Stu Woo

LONDON-- Facebook Inc. has hired one of Britain's best-known politicians as its top policy and communications executive, giving a Silicon Valley outsider the task of mending the social network's image as it deals with increased political scrutiny in the U.S. and abroad.

Facebook said Friday that Nick Clegg, who as deputy prime minister was Britain's No. 2 leader from 2010 to 2015, would replace Elliot Schrage, who said in June that he was stepping down.

Mr. Clegg's recruitment comes after trust in Facebook was eroded following several mistakes in 2018. Outrage grew this spring over allegations that data firm Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed information on tens of millions of Facebook users and that Russian-backed propagandists had exploited the social network.

More recently, hackers, believed to be spammers, gained access to the private information of 30 million Facebook users.

Meanwhile, several public funds holding Facebook stock are backing a proposal to push out Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg as the board's chairman.

Write to Stu Woo at Stu.Woo@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 19, 2018 09:21 ET (13:21 GMT)

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