Meta’s former policy chief, Nick Clegg, is back in the spotlight—this time not as the guy defending Facebook in the trenches of regulation battles, but as an author with a shiny new book: How to Save the Internet. And honestly? The title alone feels like he’s promising to fix your Wi-Fi and your trust issues with Big Tech.
But here’s the twist: unlike some ex-Meta memoirs that go full scorched-earth, Clegg’s book doesn’t read like a takedown. In an interview with The Guardian, he carefully tiptoes through the Silicon Valley minefield—distancing himself just enough to avoid looking like a corporate loyalist, while not quite throwing Zuck and Sandberg under the bus. Classic politician energy, right?
Clegg insists social media has its flaws (shocker), but he also highlights how it’s connected billions of people in unprecedented ways. He even went as far as saying he wouldn’t have joined Meta if he thought Mark Zuckerberg or Sheryl Sandberg were the “monsters” critics paint them to be. Diplomatic? Absolutely. But he didn’t stop there.
When talking about life in Silicon Valley, he couldn’t resist a little shade—calling it “cloyingly conformist,” a place where everyone apparently drives the same cars, wears the same clothes, listens to the same podcasts, and follows the same hype cycles. Basically, he described it like one big college dorm where individuality goes to die.
And then came the kicker: Clegg admitted he’s baffled by the tech industry’s obsession with masculinity, calling it a strange cocktail of “machismo and self-pity.” Translation? Silicon Valley bros might bench press, code, and flex their egos, but deep down they’re still spiraling.
So while How to Save the Internet may not spill Meta’s darkest secrets, it’s clear Clegg isn’t afraid to stir the pot just enough to keep things interesting.
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