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Facebook parent Meta's head of communications exits company

John Pinette has left Meta Platforms. He'd handled communications since 2019.

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Edward Moyer is a senior editor at CNET and a many-year veteran of the writing and editing world. He enjoys taking sentences apart and putting them back together. He also likes making them from scratch. ¶ For nearly a quarter of a century, he's edited and written stories about various aspects of the technology world, from the US National Security Agency's controversial spying techniques to historic NASA space missions to 3D-printed works of fine art. Before that, he wrote about movies, musicians, artists and subcultures.
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Facebook employees unveil a new logo and the name "Meta" on the sign in front of Facebook headquarters on Oct. 28, 2021, in Menlo Park, California.

Facebook employees unveil a new logo and the name "Meta" on the sign in front of Facebook headquarters on Oct. 28, 2021, in Menlo Park, California.

 Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The head of communications for Facebook parent company Meta Platforms, John Pinette, has left the company.

"We are thankful for John's positive contributions during an intense and significant time in the company's history," a Meta spokesperson said in an email Saturday. "We wish him well going forward." The spokesperson didn't give a reason for Pinette's departure.

Pinette gave employees the news in a Friday afternoon post, saying it would be his last day, according to The Wall Street Journal, which earlier reported on his exit. "I know the team will continue to thrive as you do some of the most important -- and most difficult -- work in Communications," the post said, according to the Journal.

Pinette had handled communications since 2019 and had previously led communications for Google in Asia. He'd also worked for Bill Gates as well as for Microsoft and for late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's company Vulcan.

Meta, along with its Facebook and Instagram social networks, has been the subject of intense scrutiny after former Facebook employee Frances Haugen leaked a cache of internal documents that among other things showed company researchers were aware of the harms caused by the platforms. The leaks fueled a series of high-profile media reports late last year, and Haugen testified before Congress.

A Meta spokesperson told Reuters that for now, Chris Norton, vice president of international communications, will step into Pinette's former role.

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