Who is Shivnath Thukral? WhatsApp’s public policy director likely to replace Ankhi Das

The top public policy official at Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook India, Ankhi Das’ position will reportedly be taken by WhatsApp’s public policy director Shivnath Thukral for the time being after she stepped down amid controversy over social network’s alleged negligence in enforcing the tools to regulate hate speech. Even though there is no official confirmation but media reports have suggested that Thukral will take up the position after Das, his former boss stepped down. Thukral will now be responsible for being in contact with Facebook along with other social media sites’ trends to work closely with the political analysts, researchers and even policymakers.

Who is Shivnath Thukral?

As per Thukral’s LinkedIn profile, he is not foreign to Facebook. Remarkably, Shivnath Thukral has been the Public Policy Director of India and South Asia from November 2017 to March 2020 and reported directly to Das. After which, he shifted to be facebook’s subsidiary, WhatsApp’s Public Policy Director of India till now. When in Mark-Zuckerberg-led Facebook, Thukral’s primary job was to act as a lobbyist under the supervision of Das and ensured hassle-free dealing with the government. 

He has the prior experience of journalism of nearly 14 years, he eventually moved into the cooperate world by working as a Managing Director at foreign policy think tank, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in India. Moreover, the former journalist has also served as a leader with Essar Group. Even though Thukral has a diverse professional history, TIME magazine has named him as Ankhi Das’ “top lieutenants”. 

Graduate of Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Thukral has been a speaker at several global events including the World Economic Forum and the Milken Institute conference and even Indian industry summits on issues such as India’s economic policies, domestic politics, and the impact of the digital technologies on the society.

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Ankhi Das steps down

Ankhi Das, who has been accused of violating facebook’s hate content guidelines, officially stepped down on October 27. Her resignation was confirmed by the company’s Managing Director in India Ajit Mohan and informed that she will now pursue her interest in “public service”. However, Das left mark Zuckerberg-led company just days after she was questioned by India’s parliamentary panel. 

On October 23, Das faced panel’s questions over Facebook’s total revenue, profit, tax payouts in India amid accusations of Facebook's alleged bias in dealing with hate speeches. Allegations against Das stem from the August 14 report by Wall Street Journal that stated that Telangana BJP MLA T Raja Singh's communal and incendiary speeches were passed through without being flagged by Facebook, even though it was against company's hate speech rules. 

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