Meta's policy chief exits to teach at Harvard Law School
What's the story
Monika Bickert, Meta's long-serving head of content policies, is leaving the social media giant after a 12-year stint. She will be joining Harvard Law School as an academic. The news was first reported by Reuters and later confirmed by Meta. Bickert announced her departure in an internal post, saying she has long been interested in teaching.
Advocacy
Rejected profit motive claims
Bickert was known for her strong defense of Meta's internal values. After the 2021 "Facebook Files" leak by whistleblower Frances Haugen, she denied allegations that the company prioritized profits over user safety. "Yes, we're a business and we make profit, but the idea that we do so at the expense of people's safety or well-being misunderstands where our own commercial interests lie," she wrote at the time.
Transition plan
Monika Bickert will stay until August
Following the announcement, Meta's Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan praised Bickert for her contributions in building the company's safety infrastructure. Bickert also said that she will stay at Meta until August to assist with a transition plan with Kevin Martin, who heads the company's global policy team. This comes as a New Mexico court recently ordered Meta to pay $375 million for allegedly misleading users about the safety of its platforms for children.
Legal battle
Meta spokeswoman defends teen safety record
Meta has said it disagrees with the verdict and plans to appeal. A spokeswoman for Meta said, "We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content." She said, "We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online."