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Feb 17, 2022 - Technology

Meta reorganizes comms team to go on PR offense

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Illustration of the Facebook "f" carved in stone.

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Facebook parent Meta is reorganizing its communications and public affairs team to combat an onslaught of negative press and try to repair its reputation.

Why it matters: The new structure, according to internal memos obtained by Axios, gives communications and public affairs executives more power across the organization to respond to public relations crises.

Details: In an internal note to employees posted Monday, Nick Clegg — Facebook’s newly promoted president of global affairs — said the communications team will be restructured to be more “cross-functional … to make sure our product and innovation story is heard loud and clear by the audiences we need to reach.“

  • The team will be led by David Ginsberg, a senior product executive who‘s been with Facebook since 2017. Ginsberg's new title will be VP and global head of communications and public affairs, and he will report to Clegg.

Be smart: In a different staff memo posted Monday, Ginsberg said the new team will be renamed "Communications and Public Affairs" and will focus not just on adopting a new communications structure, but also on getting employees and external stakeholders more excited about the metaverse.

  • As a part of that mission, the company will build a new global public affairs team under Tucker Bounds, a former DC political operative who currently serves as a vice president of communications at the company.

Catch up quick: Prior to his new role, Ginsberg led the company's Choice and Competition Team (CCT), a unit responsible for developing product innovations in response to new regulations. He also served as a senior research executive.

  • In his memo, Clegg noted, "With David's move to lead communications, he will bring with him the bulk of the CCT remit, which has had a heavy cross-functional, strategic public affairs focus."

The big picture: The new structure gives Clegg full responsibility for making policy decisions on behalf of the company, absolving CEO Mark Zuckerberg from that duty on a day-to-day basis.

  • Microsoft made a similar move in 2015, when it promoted its general counsel and chief legal officer Brad Smith to president, effectively shifting all public policy responsibilities away from CEO Satya Nadella, The Information notes.
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