WhatsApp's India head and Meta's public policy director step down
What's the story
A week after Meta's mass layoffs across the board, the company's public policy head in India Rajiv Aggarwal has resigned. Abhijit Bose, WhatsApp's India head, has also stepped down. The two high-profile resignations come soon after Meta's India head Ajit Mohan quit the company to join rival Snap. The Facebook parent had laid off over 10,000 employees earlier this month.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Meta is all set to tread a new path in India. In other words, it is being forced to tread a new path. Three high-profile resignations within two weeks can do that to a company. It certainly adds pressure to the company that hasn't had the best of 2022 so far. It is possible that this could be just what the company needed.
Resignations
Abhijit Bose was WhatsApp's first India head
Meta said that Aggarwal has decided to step down "to pursue another opportunity." Shivnath Thukral has been appointed as the new director of public policy. Bose was the first head of WhatsApp in India. Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp thanked him for his "tremendous contributions." "His entrepreneurial drive helped our team deliver new services that have benefited millions of people and businesses," he added.
Official words
Aggarwal played an important role in leading policy initiatives: Meta
Speaking about Aggarwal's resignation, Manish Chopra, director of partnerships, India, said, "Over the last year, he has played an important role in leading our policy-led initiatives in areas such as user-safety, privacy and scaling up programs like GOAL to drive digital inclusion in the country." "He has also been leading proactive engagement with critical policy and regulatory stakeholders," Chopra added.
New appointee
Thukral will lead policy initiatives in Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp
Thukral, Meta's newly appointed director of public policy, has been part of the policy team since 2017. He will lead the public policy division of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The company said that he will define and lead important policy initiatives across its apps. Chopra reiterated Meta's commitment to making meaningful contributions to the regulatory process in India while announcing Thukral's appointment.