The head of policy for India and South Asia at the social media platform X, Samiran Gupta, has resigned, according to two sources, marking a significant departure ahead of the upcoming India elections and amidst the company's ongoing legal battle with New Delhi over content removal.
Gupta held the highest-ranking Indian position within X, formerly known as Twitter, and was responsible for addressing critical content-related policy matters and advocating for Twitter's position regarding new policy developments and support for organizations, as stated on his LinkedIn profile.
Samiran Gupta, who was previously designated as X's Head of Global Government Affairs for India and South Asia, declined to provide a comment to Reuters, and X has not yet responded to inquiries regarding his resignation.
According to Gupta's LinkedIn profile, his tenure at X concluded in September. His profile further mentions that he "facilitated the transition in leadership for Twitter following its acquisition by Elon Musk's X-Corp."
He joined the company in February 2022, approximately eight months before Elon Musk completed the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc.
India is a critical market for X, with approximately 27 million users, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other government officials who are regular users of the platform.
One of the sources noted that there are roughly 15 X employees in roles such as compliance and engineering in India. However, Gupta was the sole executive responsible for engaging with the government and political parties.
Typically, interactions between X and government and party officials intensify in the lead-up to elections, and India is scheduled to hold a national election next year.
X is currently appealing against an Indian court ruling that found it had failed to comply with government orders to remove specific content. The company argues that this ruling could empower New Delhi to block more content and expand the scope of censorship.
In September, India informed the court that X is a "recurrently non-compliant platform" and has ignored numerous orders over the years to remove content, thereby undermining the government's authority.
