(Reuters) – Facebook Inc’s chief of ad integrity, who dealt with the company’s ad products around sensitive topics such as politics and coronavirus misinformation, left this week, according to an internal company post reviewed by Reuters on Friday.
Rob Leathern, director of product management, said on Facebook’s internal network earlier this month that he would be leaving the company on December 30. His departure had not been previously reported.
Facebook was not immediately available for comment.
Leathern said in the post that he “left Facebook to work on consumer privacy beyond advertising and social media,” without disclosing where he was going.
Leathern has often been the public face of the company’s controversial political ad policies. Ahead of the Nov. 3 US election, Facebook was heavily criticized for allowing misleading claims and conspiracy theories to be widely circulated on its platforms.
In November, Leathern tweeted that Facebook “did not have the technical capability to enable short-term political advertising by state or advertiser.” Subsequently, Facebook lifted a temporary ban on political ads in Georgia after the election, ahead of the Jan. 5 second round that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.
Reporting by Katie Paul; written by Ben Klayman; Editing by Sandra Maler