Mehta announced the appointment of three new board members, including Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and a close ally of Donald Trump.
This comes as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears to be working to mend relations with President Trump ahead of the inauguration of the next US president this month.
A few days ago, former British Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party leader Sir Nick Clegg resigned from his role as global president of the social media giant.
Other new members of Meta’s board include John Elkann, who heads European investment firm Exor, and former Microsoft executive Charlie Songhurst.
“Dana, John and Charlie will add deep expertise and perspectives that will help us address the big opportunities ahead, including the future of[artificial intelligence]wearables, and human connectivity,” Zuckerberg said in a statement. ” he said.
The social media giant also praised White’s role in turning the UFC into a global business.
In Mehta’s Instagram post, White said he loves social media and is “excited to be a part of the future of (artificial intelligence) and emerging technologies.”
White has previously rejected any suggestion that the UFC platform constitutes hate speech and said he supports free speech.
A year ago, a tense exchange with a reporter who questioned why militants were allowed to make anti-LGBT comments became a hot topic online.
“People can say whatever they want to say and believe what they want to believe,” White countered.
The UFC boss has had close ties to President Trump for decades.
Mr White’s appointment follows news that Sir Nick will be replaced by Joel Kaplan, a prominent republican who has been responsible for relations between social media companies and the party.
There has been a clear thaw between Mr. Mehta and Mr. Trump in recent months.
Relations have been frosty at least since Trump was banned from Facebook and Instagram following the January 2021 Capitol riot.
In August, Trump wrote in a book that Zuckerberg would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he tried to interfere in the 2024 presidential election.
But the president-elect has since softened his stance, saying on a podcast in October that he was “good” that Zuckerberg was “not running” and that he personally called Zuckerberg in the face of the assassination attempt. I was grateful for that.
After Zuckerberg won the election in November, he visited Mar-a-Lago and had dinner with President Trump. Earlier this month, he donated $1 million (£800,000) to the president-elect’s inaugural fund.
