The new appointment comes amidst escalations such as cases being filed against Twitter's MD and the government saying that the platform has lost its intermediary liability protections. Twitter's new interim grievance officer for India studied Diplomacy and South Asian Security at King's College London. He has worked in roles that involved human rights and liaising with United Nations member states. But perhaps most importantly, he has worked as an analyst for Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP who was recently appointed as a Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITY). These experiences perhaps explain his appointment: Twitter has been belligerent in a months-long conflict with MEITY, and by extension, the Indian government; most recently that dispute has revolved around Prakash's new position remaining vacant. Twitter declined to comment on a query about the appointment by MediaNama. Nitthin Chandran, CEO of MedPiper, the Bangalore-based startup where Prakash worked in a policy role until this appointment, confirmed Prakash's move to Twitter. "Vinay's been in this space. Prior to this, he was in Quick Ride, which is in the mobility space. He's been helpful, and had an eye for looking out and navigating around issues that would come up," Chandran told MediaNama. Twitter is still headhunting for a permanent candidate for this role, but Prakash's appointment is one of two important steps taken to de-escalate matters with the government. The other step over the weekend was the publication of the company's first compliance report under the…
