The flag of India is seen through a 3D printed Facebook logo in this illustration image. (REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration / File Photo)
Facebook India Managing Director Ajit Mohan said Ankhi Das has resigned to pursue interests in public service. The resignation comes weeks after Facebook and Das faced questions about how political content is regulated in India, its biggest market.
- Reuters Bengaluru
- Last update: October 27, 2020 7:43 PM IST
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Facebook Inc’s top lobbyist in India, Ankhi Das, has resigned, the US tech giant said on Tuesday, months after a political controversy broke out over how the popular social network regulates political content in the country.
Das, who was Facebook’s head of public policy for India, South and Central Asia, decided to resign to pursue her interest in public service, the company said in a statement.
Facebook and Das received criticism from opposition lawmakers after The Wall Street Journal reported in August that she opposed applying restrictions on hate speech to some Hindu nationalist individuals and groups, fearing damaging the Facebook business prospects.
Following the article, Facebook India director Ajit Mohan defended Das and the company’s policies in an internal community post seen by Reuters.
The WSJ article “does not reflect the person I know or the extraordinarily complex problems we face every day that benefit from the expertise of Ankhi and the Public Policy team,” Mohan wrote.
The matter also led Facebook employees to question whether proper content regulation policies were being followed in India, leaving the company battling a political and public relations crisis.
Das was considered one of the most influential corporate lobbying executives in India and has been instrumental in the rise of Facebook in India since he joined the company in 2011.
“Ankhi was one of our first employees in India and played a critical role in the growth of the company and its services,” Facebook said in a statement announcing Das’s departure.
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