Twitter ropes in Network18 digital chief to head India operations

Microblogging platform Twitter has hired Manish Maheshwari, the former chief executive officer of the digital arm of media and entertainment group Network18, to head its India operations.

In a tweet, Maya Hari, vice president of Asia Pacific for Twitter, said that Maheshwari will lead strategy and execution in India in his new role.

Besides, he will be responsible for accelerating audience and revenue growth, she added in the tweet.

Excited to welcome Manish Maheshwari @manishm345 as our new Managing Director for @TwitterIndia. Manish is joining to lead our strategy and execution in India and accelerate audience and revenue growth in one of our top markets worldwide.

— Maya Hari (@maya_hari) April 22, 2019

In response to Hari’s tweet, Maheshwari confirmed the appointment. His LinkedIn account shows that he took charge of his new assignment at the beginning of this month.

Thanks Maya! I feel incredibly honoured to be joining @TwitterIndia at this exciting time. India's future is digital and full of possibilities. With our amazing teams across the country, I’m bullish about the positive impact that we can have on all elements of Indian society. https://t.co/hscFSpe5cR

— Manish Maheshwari (@manishm345) April 22, 2019

Maheshwari has replaced Balaji Krish, Twitter's global head of revenue strategy and operations, who took charge as the firm's interim India head following the exit of Taranjeet Singh in September 2018.

In a tweet, Krish said that he will be moving back to San Francisco to resume his earlier role in revenue strategy and operations.

As I move back to SF to resume my role as Twitter's global head of revenue strategy and operations, I eagerly look forward to seeing this team shine while serving the public conversation of the one of the greatest democracies!

— Balaji Krish (@BalajiKrish) April 22, 2019

An MBA from the University of Wharton, Maheshwari earlier led Network18’s digital arm, which includes Moneycontrol, Firstpost, News18, CNBC-TV18, CricketNext and In.com. Prior to that, he headed the merchant business and seller ecosystem vertical at Walmart-owned Flipkart.

In his earlier professional stints, he had worked at Intuit, McKinsey as well as Procter & Gamble, his LinkedIn account showed.

The latest development comes even as Twitter, in February, forecast a below-than-analyst-estimate in revenues for the first quarter of this financial year.

Twitter attributed the decline in monthly active users partly because it deleted millions of abusive accounts following criticism that the platform was being used for political manipulation and hate speech.

In March this year, Twitter also faced heat from regulatory authorities as media reports stated that the microblogging platform could face punitive actions if it failed to remove “objectionable and inflammatory content” in compliance with the law.

This development followed draft rules issued by the Indian government in February, which has emphasised the role of tech giants in actively regulating content in one of the world's biggest Internet market.