Nick Clegg urged to stand up for liberalism and democracy at Facebook

The former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown has urged Nick Clegg to stand up for the values of liberalism and democracy at Facebook, as tech companies continue to hire staff in preparation for a global battle against tough new internet regulation.

The former deputy prime minister announced his decision to become Facebook’s global lobbying and communications executive on Friday, as the social network prepares for a showdown with governments over new legislation – proposed over concerns about fake news and the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Ashdown stopped short of criticising his former colleague, who surprised the political and technology worlds by announcing his switch to Facebook, but urged him to change the social network’s culture: “My good friend Nick Clegg’s reputation as a powerful voice for liberalism and democracy will now depend on his ability to persuade Facebook to be a global campaigner for the same values,” he said.

The Guardian has learned that major tech companies are preparing for regulatory showdown with the British government by launching a London office for the Internet Association, a Washington-based lobbying organisation that presents itself as “unified voice of the internet economy”.

Clegg, who was spotted taking a first class flight to San Jose from London on Sunday afternoon, told Radio 4’s Week in Westminster that his principal role at Facebook would be to grapple with the “very thorny issues” big tech companies are encountering, such as the balance of free speech, the power of artificial intelligence and “the tension between the global internet and national jurisdictions”.

“I’m very much an optimist about what technology can bring to society,” he said, saying the company would work with “governments, regulators, and civic society around the world” to find answers to challenges created by the internet.

Clegg’s wife, the lawyer Miriam González Durántez, and their three sons will also relocate to California.

The current Lib Dem leader, Vince Cable, told the Guardian last week that he would be writing to Clegg “urging him to make sure Facebook cooperates with attempts to make sure they pay their fair share of taxes”. It is now understood that the letter will only be sent once Clegg has completed his move to California and started his job, meaning there is unlikely to be any showdown between him and the current party leadership in the coming months.

Instead, Lib Dems have largely closed ranks around their former leader after he came under sustained criticism in the public eye in recent years. One who was involved in the top levels of the party said there was a general sense of goodwill toward Clegg’s bid to restart his career abroad: “Even if you weren’t a Clegg fan you think this is a good move for him and the party.”

They expressed sadness, however, that they were losing one of their only well-known spokespeople “who would automatically get onto the Today programme” and be able to draw attention to the party.

Tech companies are increasingly hiring lobbying staff as many inquiries launched into social networks following the 2016 Brexit referendum and US presidential election begin to publish their conclusions, and debate switches to whether legislation is required to force tech companies to change how they operate. The UK government has already indicated its intention to tame the “wild west” of the online world through new laws.

The Internet Association, which represents companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Uber, and Amazon, has been at the forefront of pro-tech lobbying activities in the US. Until now there has not been a unified voice fighting on behalf of the major tech companies in Britain, but the lobby group has decided to act given the imminent publication of the government’s white paper on tech regulation.

“The internet creates significant benefits for UK consumers, the economy, and society,” a spokesperson said, confirming the association’s launch plans. “We look forward to engaging constructively in the UK to help the internet economy grow and thrive.”

Daniel Dyball, a former lobbyist with the National Lottery operator Camelot and Channel 4, is thought to have been lined up to run the Internet Association in Britain. An experienced operator, on his LinkedIn page he discusses how his role at the commercial television station included convincing the government not to introduce new restrictions on the advertising of junk food, alcohol, and gambling services “thus protecting substantial revenues”.