Facebook expands public policy operations to India

Facebook today announced it has hired Ankhi Das as Head of Public Policy for India, as part of its global public policy organisation. The move comes as part of Facebook’s on-going investment in building a team of experts to represent the company in areas of public policy and work with governments, policy makers and regulators around the world. 

India is an important country for Facebook and the growth of the Internet and connectivity across the country raises many interesting and complex issues of public policy and regulation. With over 15 years of public policy and regulatory affairs experience in the technology sector, Ankhi Das will lead Facebook’s efforts on privacy, data security, and safety issues in India, as well as advance Facebook’s role in India’s social and economic growth. 

Das joins Facebook from Microsoft India, where as Director of Public Policy, she was responsible for strategic public policy projects and regulatory affairs, since being hired as its first corporate affairs employee, including serving as Head of Corporate Citizenship, in 2004. She has an extensive background in policy issues including intellectual property rights, competition law and policy, Internet economy issues and economic development and technology policy. 

Prior to joining Microsoft, Das served as Head of Corporate Affairs, at Amarchand Mangaldas, a law firm in New Dehli, India. Ankhi Das is a graduate of Loreto College, University of Kolkata, and has done post-graduate studies specialising in international relations and political science at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Das will join Facebook on October 17th, and will be based in New Delhi.