Facebook’s public policy director for India, South, and Central Asia, Ankhi Das has stepped down to pursue interests in public service, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
The resignation comes weeks after Facebook and Das faced questions internally from employees over how political content is regulated in its biggest market, India.
“Ankhi has decided to step down from her role in Facebook to pursue her interest in public service. Ankhi was one of our earliest employees in India and played an instrumental role in the growth of the company and its services over the last 9 years,” Ajit Mohan, Managing Director India of Facebook, said in an e-mailed statement, according to several media reports.
The resignation comes weeks after both the company and Das faced questions both internally from employees and from the Indian government over how political content is regulated on the massively popular social media platform.
According to reports from WSJ, Das shielded politicians affiliated to the ruling party in India from Facebook’s hate speech / content moderation policy because she thought it could hurt the company’s business prospects in India, Facebook’s biggest market by users. Facebook, which reaches more than 400 million internet users in India, has spread its tentacles in several categories in the country in recent years including startup investments and education.
