Clegg joined Meta in late 2018 as the company grappled with the fallout of the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal.
Clegg ceding his job to Kaplan, who served as deputy chief of staff for policy under then-president George W. Bush from 2006-2009, comes as Republican Donald Trump is set to return to the White House.
"As a new year begins, I have come to the view that this is the right time for me to move on," Clegg said in a Facebook post.
"I hope I have played some role in seeking to bridge the very different worlds of tech and politics - worlds that will continue to interact in unpredictable ways across the globe."
Clegg referred to his years as Meta as an adventure, saying that when he arrived at the company it was undergoing rapid growth that brought with it scrutiny and controversy.
"My time at the company coincided with a significant resetting of the relationship between 'big tech' and the societal pressures manifested in new laws, institutions and norms affecting the sector," Clegg wrote.
Clegg portrayed Kaplan as the right person at the right time to replace him atop the Meta policy team, saying Kaplan is "ideally placed to shape the company's strategy as societal and political expectations around technology continue to evolve."
Kaplan joined Facebook in 2011 as vice president of US public policy and went on to become second in command on the global policy team.
Clegg said he will remain at Meta for several months while handing over the reins to Kaplan.
"I'm grateful for everything you've done for Meta and the world these past seven years," Meta co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a reply posted below Clegg's announcement on Facebook.
"I'm excited for Joel to step into this role next given his deep experience and insight leading our policy work for many years."
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