NEW DELHI: Twitter has transferred to the US its India head Manish Maheshwari, against whom an FIR was registered in Uttar Pradesh in connection with a probe related to a video of an alleged hate crime.
While the company did not specify any reason for the change, it said Maheshwari will move to the US as Senior Director (Revenue Strategy and Operations) and focus on new markets in the latest role.
Twitter Vice President Japan and Asia Pacific Yu Sasamoto shared the development in a tweet.
“Thank you to @manishm for your leadership of our Indian business over the past 2+ years. Congrats on your new US-based role in charge of revenue strategy and operations for new markets worldwide. Excited to see you lead this important growth opportunity for Twitter,” he said.
When contacted, Twitter confirmed the development and said Maheshwari is “moving into a new role based in San Francisco as Senior Director, Revenue Strategy and Operations focused on New Market Entry”.
The company did not disclose details around the succession plan after Maheshwari moves to the US.
Before joining Twitter, Maheshwari was the CEO of Network18 Digital. He has also worked with organisations including Flipkart, P&G, among others.
Notably, in May, Twitter had expressed concern about employees in India and the potential threat to freedom of expression. The company had been sent a notice by Delhi Police’s Special Cell in connection with the probe into a complaint about an alleged ‘COVID toolkit’. Two police teams had also descended on the microblogging site’s offices in Lado Sarai in Delhi and in Gurugram.
Twitter has been drawing severe criticism over the past many months for various actions it has taken on tweets and accounts of high-profile users as well as delay in compliance with the IT rules that came into effect in May this year.
The latest in this was the temporary suspension of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s account after he shared pictures of the family of a nine-year-old victim of alleged rape and murder in Delhi.
Twitter, on its part, had said it followed due process as Gandhi’s tweet on the family of the victim was against its rules and the law.
In June, an FIR was registered against Maheshwari and some others in connection with a probe related to a video of an alleged hate crime that went viral on social media.
In July, the Karnataka High Court had quashed the notice issued to Maheshwari by the UP police, seeking his personal appearance as part of the probe.
Maheshwari was also named in police complaints related to showing an incorrect map of India.
The US-based company – which has an estimated 1.75 crore users in India – had also courted controversy over the new social media rules, and the Indian government had confronted Twitter over deliberate defiance and failure to comply with the IT rules, despite repeated reminders.
On August 10, the Centre had told the Delhi High Court that Twitter was “prima facie” in compliance with the new IT rules by appointing a Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), Resident Grievance Officer (RGO) and Nodal Contact Person on permanent basis.
Source: Press Trust of India
