- General
- April 23, 2019
- 6 minutes read
Facebook Hires Top Attorney Jennifer Newstead As General Counsel
Jennifer Newstead image: Facebook Facebook has announced it has hired Jennifer Newstead, the Legal Adviser to the United States Department…
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| Jennifer Newstead
image: Facebook
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Facebook has announced it has hired Jennifer Newstead, the Legal Adviser to the United States Department of State, as its general counsel, replacing Colin Stretch who announced his planned departure from Facebook July last year. Stretch will stay at Facebook through summer to aid the transition.
Newstead earlier in her career served in some senior roles in the U.S. government, including as a Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, General Counsel of the Office of Management and Budget, and an Associate White House Counsel. She has quite a history, having helped bring about the U.S.A. Patriot Act according to a 2002 press release.
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| Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
image: Facebook
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The Patriot Act is an Act signed into law by former U.S. President George W. Bush in October 2001 in response to the September 11 attacks and the 2001 anthrax attacks. It involved the permission to use make use of surveillance “against more crimes of terror”, “obtain a search warrant anywhere a terrorist-related activity occurred”, and facilitation of “information sharing and cooperation among government agencies so that they can better “connect the dots”, according to a Department of Justice page.
Several parties opposed the legislation which stirred controversy and questioning by some members of U.S. Congress. The 2002 press release described Newstead as “helping craft” the Patriot Act to “protect the United States against terror”.
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| Facebook Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg
image: World Economic Forum / swiss-image.ch / Photo Michael Wuertenberg
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“I’m excited to be joining Facebook at an important time and working with such a fantastic team,” Newstead said in a press release. “Facebook’s products play an important role in societies around the world. I am looking forward to working with the team and outside experts and regulators on a range of legal issues as we seek to uphold our responsibilities and shared values.”
