Who is Vijaya Gadde, Twitter executive abused online after Elon Musk’s tweet

Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s legal head received a barrage of hate tweets and criticism following Elon Musk’s tweet. It all began when YouTuber Saagar Enjeti, quoting a report by Politico, called her the platform’s “top censorship advocate” and accused her of censoring Hunter Biden’s laptop story. “Suspending the Twitter account of a major news organisation for publishing a truthful story was obviously incredibly inappropriate,” replied Elon Musk.

Following this, the Twitter executive received severe backlash, much of which was racist. Gadde’s Indian heritage was dragged with references to the caste system and with words such as ‘curry’. Some said she needs to be fired, while some said she should resign.

But who is Vijaya Gadde?

India-born Vijaya Gadde is the Legal, Public Policy & Trust and Safety Lead at Twitter. Gadde is an alumna of Cornell University (1993-97), where she pursued her BS in Industrial and Labour Relations, after which she enrolled in New York University’s School of Law (1997-2000).

She joined the law firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, as an associate in 2000 and remained there till 2007. After that Gadde joined Juniper Networks as Senior Director and Associate General Counsel, Corporate.

Gadde joined Twitter in 2011 as Director, Legal. She was subsequently appointed as the General Counsel in 2013. Gadde is also the founding partner of investment collective Angels, formed in 2015.

The executive, who has been facing severe criticism for her Twitter leadership, has also been criticised for being pivotal in the removal of Donald Trump from the platform.

Twitter row

The aforementioned article titled ‘Twitter’s top lawyer reassures staff, cries during meeting about Musk takeover’ published in Politico stated that Gadde expressed uncertainty about the future of Twitter following the acquisition.

It stated that she held a virtual meeting shortly after the deal to talk about what the shift of ownership meant in terms of policy and legality. The report stated that she cried – something Enjeti mocked in his tweet – while expressing the uncertainty about Twitter’s future. She reportedly acknowledged that there are “significant uncertainties” under Musk’s leadership.

While netizens criticised the executive, some also questioned Musk's leadership and his plans to run the platform. Some asked if hateful tweets and trolls are how Musk is planning to permit “free speech”.

Also read: Not even a day in, Elon Musk criticises Twitter, India-born Twitter executive gets abused online

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