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Meta has announced the appointment of three new board members, including Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) executive and close ally of Donald Trump, Dana White.
It comes as Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg appears to be making efforts to mend relations with Trump ahead of the US president-elect’s inauguration this month.
A few days ago, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Great Britain and the leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Nick Clegg has stepped down as president of global affairs at the social media giant.
Other new Meta board members include John Elkann, who heads European investment firm Exor, and Charlie Songhurst, a former Microsoft executive.
“Dana, John and Charlie will add deep knowledge and perspectives to help us navigate the enormous possibilities of (artificial intelligence), wearables and the future of human communication,” Mr. Zuckerberg said in a statement.
The social media giant also praised Mr White’s role in turning the UFC into a global business.
In a post on Instagram Meta, Mr White said he loved social media and was “excited to be a small part of the future (of artificial intelligence) and new technology”.
Mr White has previously dismissed any suggestion that UFC platforms hate the language, insisting he supports free speech.
A year ago, his tense conversation with a reporter who asked why he allowed fighters to make anti-LGBT remarks went viral.
“People can say anything they want, and they can believe anything they want,” replied Mr. White.
The UFC boss had a close relationship with Trump for decades.
Mr White’s appointment follows news that Sir Nick has been replaced at Meta by his deputy, prominent Republican Joel Kaplan, who handled relations between the social media firm and the Republican Party.
There has been a clear thaw between Meta and Trump in recent months.
Relations have been chilly since at least Trump was banned from Facebook and Instagram following riots at the US Capitol in January 2021.
Trump wrote in a book in August that Mr Zuckerberg would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he tried to meddle in the 2024 US election.
But the president-elect later softened his stance, saying on a podcast in October that it was “good” that Zuckerberg was “not running” and thanked him for a personal phone call after he was confronted with the assassination.
Mr. Zuckerberg visited Mar-a-Lago and had dinner with Trump after winning the elections in November. Earlier this month he donated $1 million (£800,000) to the President-elect’s inauguration fund.
