Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has tapped longtime Trump ally Dana White, the president and CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), to join its board of directors.
"Dana is the President and CEO of UFC, and he has built it into one of the most valuable, fastest growing, and most popular sports enterprises in the world," Zuckerberg said in a social media statement announcing the high-profile pick. "I've admired him as an entrepreneur and his ability to build such a beloved brand."
I love social media. And I’m excited to be a small part of the future of AI and emerging technologies. @Meta pic.twitter.com/Amh5W728og
— danawhite (@danawhite) January 6, 2025
"I've never been interested in joining a board of directors until I got the offer to join Meta's board," White added, saying he's "excited to learn more about this business from the inside" and "help take Meta to the next level."
White, a staunch supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, often appeared alongside Trump at his campaign rallies and has invited him to numerous UFC events. At the 2024 Republican National Convention, White introduced Trump, touting his toughness and resilience. "I'm in the tough guy business, and [Trump] is the toughest, most resilient human being that I've ever met in my life," an emotional White said. "The higher the stakes, the harder he fights, and this guy never ever gives up."
White's addition to Meta's ranks further balances out a board that already includes lead independent director Robert Kimmitt, formerly the deputy U.S. Treasury secretary under President George W. Bush.
Zuckerberg noted that news of White's appointment is something "we've been working on for a while."
Ever since Trump was elected, the Facebook founder has been taking steps appearing to move away from favoring left-wing content and suppressing posts of political opponents, an about-face for a company that once censored the president-elect.
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In 2021, Meta kicked Trump off their platforms, pointing to "his praise for people engaged in violence at the Capitol" on January 6. The temporary suspensions elapsed, and Meta reinstated Trump's accounts two years later, with "new guardrails in place to deter repeat offenses."
At the time, Nick Clegg, then the head of global affairs at Meta, warned: "We just do not want — if he is to return to our services — for him to do what he did on January 6, which is to use our services to delegitimize the 2024 election, much as he sought to discredit the 2020 election." Clegg claimed that Trump's online presence posed "a serious risk to public safety," but after consulting with so-called "experts" to assess whether the "risks" have receded, the company decided he can come back at the end of this evaluation period.
Meta just replaced Clegg last week, promoting the company's most prominent conservative executive, Joel Kaplan, to take Clegg's position. Kaplan, a Republican operative, previously served in George W. Bush's administration as White House deputy chief of staff for policy.
Zuckerberg, who met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and publicly congratulated him on his 2024 triumph, is among a handful of Big Tech billionaires lining up to kiss the ring. Meta also donated to Trump's inauguration fund after Zuckerberg personally directed Meta to make the $1 million donation.
As Leah covered, Meta is now implementing major policy changes concerning content moderation. In an effort to "restore free expression," Meta is scrapping its current fact-checking program, which will be replaced by a user-friendly system similar to X's Community Notes.
"The fact checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created," Zuckerberg stated via video announcement.
Meta will also remove a number of restrictions on certain topics, such as immigration and gender, that Zuckerberg said are "just out of touch with mainstream discourse." Zuckerberg said these content constraints, which he acknowledged are used to shut down differing opinions, have "gone too far."
Additionally, the company's Trust and Safety teams, which work out of California, will be moved to Texas.
"This is a great opportunity for us to reset the balance in favor of free expression," Kaplan told "Fox & Friends."
Meta's chief global affairs officer said the company also sees "opportunities for partnership" with the Trump administration on issues of free speech as well as "promoting American business and America's technological edge."
"Those are issues of great importance to Meta and our sector," Kaplan said. "And we're excited to work with the Trump administration to advance those goals."
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