(Reuters) – Facebook Inc.’s head of advertising integrity, who handled the company’s advertising products on sensitive topics such as politics and coronavirus incorrectly, departed this week, according to an internal company post seen 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.
Facebook could not be immediately reached for comment.
Leathern said in the report that he was “leaving Facebook to work on consumer privacy, other than just advertising and social media”, without disclosing where he is headed.
Leathern was often the public face of the company’s controversial political advertising policies. Prior to the US election on November 3, Facebook was heavily criticized for spreading misleading allegations and conspiracy theories on its platforms.
Leathern tweeted in November that Facebook did not “have the technical ability to enable short-term political ads by state or by advertiser.” After that, Facebook lifted a temporary ban on political advertising in Georgia before the end of January 5, which will determine which party controls the US Senate.
Reporting by Katie Paul; written by Ben Klayman; Edited by Sandra Maler