Amid tighter scrutiny of social media platforms across Asia, Meta is set to see the departure of its senior public policy leader for the region.
Meta’s Asia-Pacific public policy chief, Simon Milner, will leave the company in the first half of this year. Milner, who is based in Singapore, has been with Meta since 2012 and announced his decision in a farewell note shared on LinkedIn.
In his post, Milner said: “I recently celebrated the completion of my 14th year at Meta. That’s around half of my long career in public policy.” He added that he plans to retire from full-time work.
Milner’s exit comes at a time when Meta is navigating growing regulatory challenges across the Asia-Pacific region, while also increasing its focus on artificial intelligence. In his current role, he oversees public policy teams across key markets including China, India, and Japan. Before this, he served as head of policy for the UK and Ireland and later as a director covering Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Public policy teams play a critical role in advising companies on regulatory developments and managing relationships with governments. The Asia-Pacific region is particularly important for Meta due to its large, young, and fast-growing user base, which underpins the company’s long-term growth prospects.
In recent months, Meta has faced criticism from several Asian countries over platform-related issues. Taiwan and Japan have raised concerns over financial scams operating on Facebook. In 2025, Taiwanese banks withdrew advertisements from Facebook following a rise in fake bank ads. Japanese lawmakers also urged Meta to act against misleading advertisements that used images of celebrities to deceive users.
Regulatory action has also intensified around youth safety. In December 2025, Australia imposed a ban on children under 16 accessing social media platforms, including Meta’s Facebook and Instagram. Other countries in the region, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, have said they are considering similar measures.
Meta has said it has rolled out multiple safety features for young users over the years, as governments across the region push for stronger protections against online harm.
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