In his brilliant insider-account of his time at Facebook, Chaos Monkey, Antonio Garcia Martinez describes the process of ‘onboarding’. It’s the quasi-religious ceremony of inducting new staff into the company. “Whatever you learned at your previous job” Martinez was told, “whatever politics and bullshit you’re bringing with you, just leave all that shit behind.”
I doubt Nick Clegg will do the same when he takes up his new role as Facebook’s head of global affairs. I’m guessing that his politics and bullshit is the reason he got the job.
While his reputation was – slightly unfairly – damaged by the student fees debacle, Clegg is someone with pretty solid liberal credentials. He took a real interest in issues of surveillance and privacy throughout his time in government. (I remember briefing him about surveillance powers around 2013 and he was very impressive).
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