When Mark Zuckerberg announced his “free speech” overhaul to Meta’s content moderation in January, the unexpected pivot was the culmination of months of planning with a tight-knit inner circle driven by one key adviser: Republican lobbyist Joel Kaplan. 

According to interviews with multiple current and former Meta employees, Kaplan has risen over the past decade to become Zuckerberg’s most trusted political fixer, and now the public face of the $1.7tn social media platform as Big Tech adapts to a second term under Donald Trump. 

The conservative figure was promoted to head of global affairs shortly before Zuckerberg declared the company would loosen moderation policies and ditch fact-checking. He replaces liberal former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.