(Reuters) – Facebook Inc.’s head of advertising integrity, who managed the company’s advertising products around sensitive issues such as coronavirus policy and misinformation, left this week, according to an internal publication published by Reuters on Friday.
Rob Leathern, director of product management, said earlier this month on Facebook’s internal network that he would leave the company on December 30th. His departure had not been previously reported.
Facebook could not be reached for comment immediately.
Leathern said in the message that he “left Facebook to work on consumer privacy beyond ads and social media,” without revealing where it was headed.
Leathern was often the public face of the company’s controversial advertising policies. Prior to the November 3 U.S. election, Facebook was harshly criticized for allowing misleading claims and conspiracy theories to spread widely on its platforms.
In November, Leathern had tweeted that Facebook lacked “the short-term technical capacity to allow political announcements by the state or the advertiser.” Facebook subsequently lifted the temporary post-election ban on political ads in Georgia before the second round on Jan. 5 that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.
Report by Katie Paul; writing by Ben Klayman; Edited by Sandra Maler