Kaplan to leave Meta next year after 15 years as McCormick's role expands
Key Facts
Meta's chief global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, will leave the company next year after 15 years, a Meta spokesperson confirmed to Reuters. The spokesperson said Dina Powell McCormick would add responsibility for external affairs to her current duties at the company. Meta had announced McCormick's appointment as president and vice chair, according to an earlier Reuters report on her joining the executive leadership. The expansion of her responsibilities comes ahead of the departure of Kaplan, who succeeded Nick Clegg as head of global affairs. His tenure overseeing the portfolio included confronting a European fine and opposing a code of practice for regulating artificial intelligence, alongside a shift in U.S. content fact-checking policy.
Kaplan joined Meta in 2011 before later being promoted to chief global affairs officer, according to Reuters' report on his appointment. He previously served in the administration of former Republican President George Bush as White House deputy chief of staff for policy. When Kaplan took over global affairs, Clegg praised his selection for the role he had held at the company. Clegg said, according to Reuters: "It is quite clear that Joel is the right person in the right job at the right time." Clegg linked the choice to Kaplan's role in shaping the company's strategy as social and political expectations of technology evolved.
Following Kaplan's promotion, Meta announced a shift in its approach to content, including ending its fact-checking programme in the United States. The discontinued programme relied on third-party fact-checkers, according to Reuters' report on the decision. The company said it would replace it with a community notes system on its platforms. Reuters reported that Mark Zuckerberg intended to implement the system as a replacement for the previous programme in the U.S. market. The announced replacement resembles the community notes system used on Elon Musk's X platform, according to the report on the change following Kaplan's arrival as head of global affairs.
In April 2025, the European Union fined Meta 200 million euros in a case involving the Digital Markets Act, according to Reuters. The decision was among the regulatory confrontations the company faced during Kaplan's tenure as head of global affairs. Kaplan responded by accusing the European Commission of trying to obstruct successful American companies through its enforcement of the rules. He said it was trying to "handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards". His stated objection focused on the different standards applied to American companies compared with their Chinese and European competitors, in his response to the fine.
In another European matter, Kaplan announced that Meta would not sign the code of practice on artificial intelligence, according to a Reuters report on Europe's approach to regulating the sector. Explaining the company's position, he said: "Meta will not sign it," announcing its refusal to join the code. He argued that the code introduced legal uncertainties for developers of AI models. He added, according to the report, that some of its measures went beyond the scope of the AI Act itself. His position on signing rested on those two objections concerning legal clarity and the limits of the measures, in a matter separate from the fine under the Digital Markets Act.
McCormick, who will take responsibility for external affairs, previously served on Meta's board, according to the Associated Press. Before taking her executive role at the company, she spent 16 years in senior leadership positions at Goldman Sachs, the agency reported. That career adds a financial background to her previous board experience and her duties in Meta's leadership. External affairs will be added to her roles as president and vice chair, according to the company spokesperson's announcement on the allocation of responsibilities. The upcoming leadership change in this portfolio comes as Kaplan prepares to leave next year after his long career at the company.