Joel David Kaplan(born 1969) is an American political advisor and former lobbyist working asFacebook's vice president of global public policy.[1]Previously, he served eight years in theGeorge W. Bushadministration.[2]After leaving the Bush administration, he was a lobbyist for energy companies.[3]
Joel Kaplan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| White House Deputy Chief of Stafffor Policy | |
| In office April 20, 2006 – January 20, 2009 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Karl Rove |
| Succeeded by | Mona Sutphen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1969 (age 54–55) Weston,Massachusetts,U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic(Before late 1990s) Republican(late 1990s–present) |
| Spouse |
Laura Lyn Cox (m.2006) |
| Education | Harvard University(BA,JD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1991–1995 |
Within Facebook, Kaplan is seen as a strong conservative voice.[4]He has helped place conservatives in key positions in the company, and advocated for the interests of the right-wing websitesBreitbart NewsandThe Daily Callerwithin the company.[5][3][6]He has successfully advocated for changes in Facebook's algorithm to promote the interests of right-wing publications,[3]and successfully prevented Facebook from closing down Facebook groups that were alleged to have circulated fake news, arguing that doing so would disproportionately target conservatives.[7]
Early life and education
editKaplan was born inWeston, Massachusetts,the third child of an attorney and a college administrator.[8]He earned a Bachelor of Arts fromHarvard Universityin 1991 during which time he was active student democrat and also briefly dated his future colleague at Facebook,Sheryl Sandberg.According to a friend of Kaplan's at Harvard, his political views shifted because of campus demonstrations opposing the U.S. invasion of Kuwait during theGulf War.[8]After college, he served as an Artillery Officer in theUnited States Marine Corpsfor four years. He then earned aJuris DoctorfromHarvard Law Schoolin 1998.
Career
editAfter law school, he clerked forSupreme CourtJusticeAntonin ScaliaandFourth Circuit Court of AppealsJudgeJ. Michael Luttig.[2]He was an active conservativeDemocratduring the early-1990s.[9]He registered as aRepublicanin the late-1990s.[10]
George W. Bush 2000 campaign
editKaplan worked as a policy advisor onGeorge W. Bush's2000 presidential campaign,during which he was a participant in theBrooks Brothers rioton November 22, 2000.[11]
George W. Bush administration (2001–2009)
editFrom 2001 to 2003 he was special assistant to the president for policy within theWhite House Chief of Staff’s office. Then he served as deputy director of theOffice of Management And Budget,serving underJoshua Bolten.While at the OMB, in 2006, Kaplan said the administration would cut the deficit by half by 2009.[12]
In April 2006 he returned to the White House as theWhite House Deputy Chief of Stafffor policy, taking over policy planning duties fromKarl Roveas part of a staff shake-up by White House Chief of StaffJosh Bolten.Blake Gottesmanwas the other Deputy Chief of Staff and focused on operations.[13]He was responsible for the development and implementation of the Administration’s policy agenda.
While in the Bush administration, Kaplan was seen as very close to Bolten.[14]
Private sector
editPrior to joining Facebook, Kaplan was the executive vice president for public policy and external affairs forEnergy Future Holdings(EFH), where he oversaw company-wide public affairs and led EFH’s efforts to "publicly demonstrate and communicate its role in the energy industry".[15]
In May 2011Facebookhired Kaplan as its vice president of U.S. public policy, as part of a Facebook's effort to "strengthen" the company's ties toRepublicanlawmakers onCapitol Hill.[16][17]In October 2014, Kaplan succeededMarne Levineas Facebook's vice president of global public policy.[18]
Within the company, Kaplan advocated against restrictions on racially incendiary speech.[19]He played an important role in crafting an exception for newsworthy political discourse when deciding on whether content violated the community guidelines.[19]During the 2016 election, Kaplan advocated against closing down Facebook groups which allegedly peddled fake news.[19]Kaplan argued that getting rid of the groups would have disproportionately targeted conservatives.[19][3]During and after the 2016 US presidential election, Kaplan argued against Facebook publicly disclosing the extent of Russian influence operations on the platform.[20]
In 2017, after Facebook had implemented changes to its algorithm to expose users to more content by family and friends and less by publishers who were determined by Facebook to engage in misinformation, Kaplan questioned whether the algorithm disproportionately hurt conservative publishers and successfully advocated for Facebook to change the algorithm again.[19]
He pushed against a proposed Facebook project that was intended to make Facebook users of different political views engage with each other in less hostile ways. Kaplan argued that this feature would lead conservatives to accuse Facebook of bias.[7][5]Kaplan also reportedly advocated on behalf of Breitbart News and the Daily Caller within Facebook.[5][6]Kaplan has helped to place conservatives in key positions in the leadership of Facebook.[3]
In 2018, he advocated strongly for theSupreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.[21]Kaplan sat behind Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation hearings.[21]
During Donald Trump's presidency, Kaplan was on friendly terms with the administration.[20]At one point, the administration considered nominating him as head of theOffice of Management and Budget.[20]
Personal life
editOn April 8, 2006, Kaplan married Laura Cox Kaplan (formerly Laura Lyn Cox) in Washington, D.C.[22]The Kaplan and Kavanaugh families share a close relationship, as described by Laura: "[w]e share our families."[8]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Tony Romm (May 26, 2011)."Facebook picks up former Bush aides".Politico.
- ^ab"White House biography".The White House. Archived fromthe originalon March 3, 2014.RetrievedDecember 25,2006.
- ^abcde"How conservatives learned to wield power inside Facebook".The Washington Post.2020.
- ^Frenkel, Sheera; Isaac, Mike; Kang, Cecilia; Dance, Gabriel J. X. (June 1, 2020)."Facebook Employees Stage Virtual Walkout to Protest Trump Posts".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJune 2,2020.
- ^abcSeetharaman, Deepa (December 23, 2018)."Facebook's Lonely Conservative Takes on a Power Position".Wall Street Journal.ISSN0099-9660.RetrievedJune 2,2020.
- ^ab"How key Republicans inside Facebook are shifting its politics to the right".the Guardian.November 3, 2019.RetrievedJune 2,2020.
- ^abFeiner, Lauren (October 29, 2019)."Warren calls out Facebook policy chief who worked for Bush in plan to clamp down on the 'revolving door'".CNBC.RetrievedJune 2,2020.
- ^abcBenjamin, Wofford (March 10, 2022)."The Infinite Reach of Joel Kaplan, Facebook's Man in Washington".Wired.RetrievedApril 2,2022.
- ^John G. Knepper (February 5, 1990)."Seven Elected State Delegates".Archived fromthe originalon March 3, 2014.
- ^"Limelight Finds New White House Deputy",New York Times,25 April 2006
- ^"New WH Policy Chief Was" Brooks Brothers "Rioter".April 19, 2006.
- ^"US budget deficit to surge above $400bn".Financial Times.January 13, 2006.Archivedfrom the original on December 11, 2022.RetrievedJune 2,2020.
- ^Baker, Peter (June 17, 2006)."White House Personnel Changes Complete".The Washington Post.
- ^Newsday (April 19, 2006)."Bush shifts Rove out of key post on policy; press secretary resigns".The Denver Post.RetrievedJune 2,2020.
- ^"Joel Kaplan, Vice President, Global Public Policy"(PDF).Purdue University.RetrievedFebruary 20,2018.
- ^Hudson, John (May 26, 2011)."Get to Know Facebook's Lobbyist Dream Team".The Atlantic.RetrievedFebruary 20,2018.
- ^Lattman, Evelyn M. Rusli and Peter (2011)."Facebook Taps Joel Kaplan to Head Washington Office".New York Times.RetrievedJune 2,2020.
- ^Tsukayama, Hayley (October 6, 2014)."Facebook taps D.C. office head to manage global policy".Washington Post.RetrievedFebruary 20,2018.
- ^abcde"Zuckerberg once wanted to sanction Trump. Then Facebook wrote rules that accommodated him".The Washington Post.2020.
- ^abc""Mark Changed The Rules": How Facebook Went Easy On Alex Jones And Other Right-Wing Figures ".BuzzFeed News.February 22, 2021.RetrievedFebruary 22,2021.
- ^abSonnemaker, Tyler."A Facebook executive rallied support for Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, a new book says".Business Insider.RetrievedJune 2,2020.
- ^"Cox, Kaplan exchange vows".Brownwood (TX) Bulletin.GateHouse Media LLC. July 2, 2006.RetrievedFebruary 21,2018.