Twitter’s India public policy head Mahima Kaul resigns: Hindustan Times
The confirmation of Kaul’s resignation came amid a controversy in India over a hashtag related to the farmers’ protest.
Twitter India Public Policy head Mahima Kaul has quit her position because of personal reasons, Hindustan Times reported on Saturday, quoting a senior executive of the microblogging site. Kaul had stepped down in January.
“At the start of this year, Mahima Kaul decided to step down from her role as Twitter Public Policy Director for India and South Asia to take a well-deserved break,” Twitter Global Policy head Monique Meche was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “It’s a loss for all of us at Twitter, but after more than five years in the role we respect her desire to focus on the most important people and relationships in her personal life.”
Merche added that Kaul will continue her role till the end of the March and help the company with transition. Twitter has put out a listing for the top job on its website.
The confirmation of Kaul’s resignation came amid a controversy in India over a Twitter hashtag related to the farmers’ protest.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had sent a notice to Twitter for restoring about 250 accounts and tweets which used the “ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide” hashtag. The government warned Twitter that it could face action for unilaterally unblocking the accounts which it had directed the microblogging site to withhold.
The Twitter handles of Caravan magazine and Kisan Ekta Morcha were among those withheld. The accounts of farmers’ group Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Ugrahan were also blocked.
There has been a clampdown on the farmers’ protest in the aftermath of the violence during the Republic Day tractor rally. Protest sites near Delhi have been heavily barricaded, with nails dug into the roads. The government has also cut the protestors’ access to internet. More than 100 people have been arrested in connection with the violence and several are reportedly missing.