Facebook poaches Tony Close, director of content standards at Ofcom, as director of content regulation; Ofcom is preparing to regulate social media companies
Matthew Moore / The Times : Tweets: @mattkmoore , @mrharrycole , @janinegibson , @tim2040 , @damiancollins , and @jbenton See also Mediagazer Tweets: Matthew Moore / @mattkmoore : Tony Close was placed on immediate gardening leave and blocked from accessing Ofcom's systems after resigning last week. He has previously defended the ‘revolving door’ between regulators and the firms they regulate, saying it helps build expertise https://www.thetimes.co.uk/... Harry Cole / @mrharrycole : Second time I've properly felt it's time for overhaul recently. First was learning the former FCO perm sec is hand holding the hauwei deal for them. Extraordinary. The lobbying ban is a joke.. ohh we don't lobby we just offer strategy advice etc. Pull the other one guys. https://twitter.com/... Janine Gibson / @janinegibson : Facebook hires gatekeeper to guide them round the gate. (Article also contains revelation that gatekeeper was paid £213k by Ofcom last year) https://twitter.com/... Tim Turner / @tim2040 : It's totally reasonable for companies to expect to get paid for their content, but you shouldn't have to pay to hear what elected representatives think. I mean, nobody's going to pay to hear what Damian Collins thinks, but the point stands. https://twitter.com/... Damian Collins / @damiancollins : You can read my comments here on Facebook poaching a senior UK regulator from @ofcom https://www.thetimes.co.uk/... Joshua Benton / @jbenton : The UK was about to start regulating Facebook. So Facebook hired the guy writing the regulations. “Facebook wants regulation that isn't going to adversely affect their profits too much, so it's in their interest to recruit people with inside knowledge.” https://www.thetimes.co.uk/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Facebook has spent the past year building its own answer to external content regulation — proposed Oversight Board bylaws that left the company firmly in control, followed by the announcement of the board's first 20 members — while Ofcom prepares to take on formal authority over social media firms in the UK.
Hiring Tony Close, Ofcom's own director of content standards, as director of content regulation collapses the distance between those two tracks: the person who helped shape the regulator's thinking now works for its most prominent subject. His immediate gardening leave and loss of system access show how sensitive the move is, and he has previously defended the regulator-to-industry 'revolving door' as expertise-building.
First-order effects
- Close joins Facebook's content policy operation — a team already described as engineers, lawyers and PR staff deciding what users can post — at the exact moment Ofcom's social media remit is taking shape, giving Facebook an insider's read on the incoming regime before it lands.
Second-order effects
- Critics' allegation that the hire is designed to influence upcoming regulation puts pressure on Ofcom to demonstrate independence, likely tightening how it handles personnel moves and forcing rival platforms to consider their own regulator-hiring plays or risk being out-positioned.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, platform governance splits into two competing layers — company-built bodies like the Oversight Board and state regulators like Ofcom — with talent circulating between them, raising structural questions about whether rules are written by the regulated or for them.
The trend: As governments move to regulate social media directly, platforms are racing to absorb regulatory expertise in-house, blurring the line between the rule-makers and the ruled.