Former bureaucrat Rajiv Aggarwal takes over as Facebook’s public policy head

Aggarwal will report to Ajit Mohan, vice president & managing director, Facebook India, and will be a part of the India leadership team

Social media giant Facebook on Monday announced that former bureaucrat and Uber executive Rajiv Aggarwal will be taking over as director of public policy.

Representational Image. (Reuters)

In his new role, Aggarwal will define and lead important policy development initiatives for Facebook in India on an agenda that covers user safety, data protection & privacy, inclusion and internet governance. Aggarwal will report to Ajit Mohan, vice president & managing director, Facebook India, and will be a part of the India leadership team.

Ajit Mohan said Facebook is an ally for the exciting economic and social transformation that India is witnessing, with digital playing a central role. “We realise we are deeply immersed in the fabric of India and we have the opportunity to help build a more inclusive and safe internet that benefits everyone in the country. I’m thrilled that Rajiv is joining us to lead the public policy team.”

With his expertise and experience, Rajiv will help further our mission to build transparency, accountability, empowered and safe communities, all of which we recognize as our responsibility,” he added.

Aggarwal will succeed Ankhi Das who stepped down in October last year after a controversy erupted over Facebook’s enforcement of its hate speech policy. Reports suggested that the social media company did not remove content by members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party

Aggarwal’s last assignment was with Uber where he was the head of public policy for India and South Asia, the statement said. He comes with 26 years of experience as an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer, and has worked as a district magistrate in nine districts across Uttar Pradesh. He steered India’s first ever-national policy on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) as joint secretary in the department for promotion of industry and internal trade, and was instrumental in the digital transformation of India’s IP offices, the statement said.

He has been closely associated with the India-US bilateral trade forum, besides being India’s lead negotiator on IPRs with other nations, it added.

(With agency inputs)