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Meet Twitter’s New CEO, Parag Agrawal

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Agrawal Praga Twitter New CEO- Investorsking

The Indian-born Parag Agrawal was appointed the new CEO of Twitter on Monday, picking the leadership baton from the outgoing CEO, Jack Dorsey. Data from Bloomberg showed that Agrawal is the youngest CEO to run a company in the S&P 500.

The 37-year-old Agrawal was born in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. His father was a senior official in the Indian Department of Atomic Energy and his mother is a retired school teacher. Agrawal obtained his B.Tech. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Bombay in 2005, and further pursued Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University in the United States.

According to his LinkedIn profile, he began his career as a researcher with Microsoft in 2006, thereafter worked with Yahoo!. He later returned to Microsoft in 2009, keeping his old role. Mid-year 2020, he joined AT&T Labs, Inc. after which he joined Twitter as Distinguished Software Engineer in 2017, a few years after he rose to the post of Chief Technical Officer. He’s currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer at Twitter.

The company revealed that Jack Dorsey, the outgoing CEO, will remain on the company’s board of directors until his term expires in 2022. While serving as Twitter’s CEO, Dorsey was also working with his payment processing company, Square in the same capacity as CEO. However, it was believed that his resignation from Twitter will enable him to focus on his payment company and also pursue other interests.

The new CEO, Agrawal is the first full-time CEO Twitter has had in years. Following his appointment on Monday, he sent his first official message as the CEO to Twitter employees. He said, “We recently updated our strategy to hit ambitious goals, and I believe that strategy to be bold and right,”

“But our critical challenge is how we work to execute against it and deliver results — that’s how we’ll make Twitter be the best it can be for our customers, shareholders, and for each of you.

“The world is watching us right now, even more than they have before, It’s because they care about Twitter and our future, and it’s a signal that the work we do here matters”. Agrawal wrote on Monday.

Twitter shareholders are expecting Agrawal to create a clear path strategy towards building the company’s revenue and engagement metrics. Despite the expanding growth of Twitter’s users, the company still lags behind in growth, stock returns and revenue compared to its peers in the social media space like Snapchat and Meta. Although Jack Dorsey has upped the company’s return and revenue by 62 percent and 68 percent respectfully since he took leadership in 2015, however, this could not be compared to the growth recorded by its social media rival, Meta, previously Facebook who reportedly gained over 250 percent in stock returns and over 4 times sales growth in the same time frame.

Speaking on the expectations from the new CEO, Jill Wilson the chief marketing officer for Esquire Digital said Agrawal is expected to pick up where Dorsey left off and continue to fight for users which are being lured away by competitors like TikTok and Instagram. “Agrawal has his work cut out for him in terms of keeping Twitter relevant and getting the everyday user on board, and monetizing the platform in general”. She added.

However, Mark Shmulik, an equity research analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein believed otherwise. He argued that in order to remain competitive Agrawal may need to change the company’s culture so as to ensure that new products and strategies can be implemented at a quicker pace than it was done in the past leadership. “Can he at least avoid being the cog that everything needs to go through to get approvals and to get things moving? Can he give more autonomy to different parts of the org so they can move at a quicker pace?” Shmulik said.

Although Agrawal is just coming to the public limelight, growing Twitter business isn’t the only challenge at hand but also the moderation of speech through Twitter which has become a growing concern in the political sphere. “The new CEO will need to work out how to stop his platform being a machine that is routinely and perpetually hijacked to distort the news agenda, produce fake popularity and influence, and provide a warped lens on the world,” said Imran Ahmed, the CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

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Telegram to Expose Users Who Use Platform For Criminal Activities, Share Data With Relevant Authorities 

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Telegram

With a view to joining efforts at waging war against cybercrime and other illicit activities on social media, a popular messaging app, Telegram has reviewed its users’ privacy and protection policy by announcing its readiness to make personal details of defaulting users available to relevant authorities for investigation.

The Telegram Chief Executive Officer, Pavel Durov, in a post sighted by Investors King, disclosed that the reversal of the company’s privacy policy was in response to alleged criminal activities and other illicit events happening on the popular social messaging platform.

Durov declared that once Telegram gets valid legal requests for the provision of the users’ IP addresses and phone numbers to authorities, the management would not hesitate in obliging the court order.

He said the move is to attempt to control criminal activity on the platform and prevent abuse.

Recall that Telegram’s policy, before it was changed, limited user information sharing to cases involving terror suspects.

However, Telegram tinkered with the policy following the arrest of its CEO, Durov in France over allegations that the company pretended not to notice the alleged various crimes flourishing unchecked on the platform.

Investors King also gathered that policy reversal is not unconnected with the recent decision of the Ukrainian government to ban the use of Telegram by government officials, military personnel, and other defense and critical infrastructure workers because of national security concerns.

Meanwhile, after Durov was subsequently released on bail and ordered to stay in the country pending ongoing investigation, he made it clear that the IP addresses and phone numbers of those who violate Telegram’s rules would now be made available to relevant authorities subject to valid legal requests.

The company further stated that if it receives a valid order from the relevant judicial authorities that confirms that any of its users is a suspect in a case involving criminal activities that violate the Telegram Terms of Service, it will perform a legal analysis of the request and may disclose affected user’s IP address and phone number to the relevant authorities.

It added that such data disclosures will be included in its periodic transparency reports, noting that the service may collect metadata such as IP address, devices and Telegram apps used, and the history of username changes to tackle spam, abuse, and other violations.

The platform has already featured the policy changes on its app as its search feature now removes problematic content and provides a new mechanism for users to report illegal search terms and material through the @SearchReport bot for subsequent review and removal by a human moderation team.

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Telegram Was Adding Nearly 500,000 Users Daily Before Durov’s Arrest

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Ever since it launched in August 2013, Telegram has been an exceptionally popular social media platform and messaging app, thanks to its utility and focus on privacy.

Telegram’s strong growth continued well into 2024. Finbold’s research found that, between April 10 and July 22, the platform added more than 485,000 monthly active users (MoU) every day.

The growth ensured that, by the middle of the summer, Telegram’s user base stood at 950 million – meaning that approximately one-eighth of humanity was using the app.

While coming just 50 million shy of 1 billion users is a major milestone, it is interesting to note that the social media platform has, at times, boasted even stronger growth. For example, in July 2023, the CEO and founder, Pavel Durov, revealed that 2.5 million people signed up to Telegram daily.

EU’s shadow over Telegram

Despite Telegram’s popularity and momentum, the platform has been gaining a different kind of attention since August 24 when the French police arrested Durov at an airport near Paris.

Though President Emmanuel Macron and his government maintain that the arrest was not politically motivated, it has nonetheless sparked a strong backlash, with many interpreting it as a crackdown on privacy and free speech.

Indeed, even the allegations of poor moderation and failure to prevent illicit activity are founded, they, nonetheless, raise important questions in the debate on the balance between privacy, surveillance, and national security.

As Andreja Stojanovic, a co-author of the research, noted “Even if genuine and undisputable illicit activity on Telegram was detected, the arrest is still likely to make many question if, by the same logic, the entire police force of a nation should be prosecuted whenever any illegal activity takes place in a private home or a hotel room.”

Nonetheless, there are no guarantees the arrest will have a profound impact on Telegram itself and, indeed, the platform has already shown significant resilience to government pressure during the Russian 2018 ban.

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Russia Questions Legitimacy of France’s Arrest Warrant for Telegram’s Pavel Durov

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Russia has issued a stern rebuke to France over the recent arrest warrant issued for Pavel Durov, the CEO and founder of the popular messaging app Telegram.

The Kremlin has raised significant concerns about the validity of the charges against Durov, suggesting that the move could be politically motivated.

On Saturday, the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office issued a warrant for Durov’s arrest, citing an ongoing investigation into organized crime, drug trafficking, fraud, and the distribution of pornographic images of minors on Telegram.

This development came as a shock to many, given Durov’s prominence as a leading technology entrepreneur and a vocal advocate for internet freedom.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded sharply to the French authorities’ actions during a press briefing on Tuesday.

Peskov demanded that Paris provide concrete evidence to substantiate the serious allegations against Durov.

He warned that without a robust basis for these accusations, the arrest could be perceived as a direct assault on free speech and a potential act of political intimidation.

“The charges against Durov are gravely serious and must be supported by equally serious evidence,” Peskov told journalists. “Otherwise, it could be viewed as an attempt to stifle communication and suppress freedom of expression.”

Durov, who is a Russian-born but holds French and UAE citizenship, has been a significant figure in the tech industry.

His company, Telegram, which he founded in 2013, is renowned for its commitment to privacy and has become a crucial platform for global communication, including in politically volatile regions.

The Russian government has emphasized its readiness to provide assistance to Durov, although it acknowledges the complexity of the situation.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates, where Durov also holds citizenship, has requested urgent diplomatic support from French officials and is closely monitoring the case.

Durov’s arrest comes at a time of heightened geopolitical tension between Russia and France. Relations have been strained by France’s strong stance against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.

This backdrop has fueled speculation that Durov’s detention might be more about political maneuvering than genuine legal concerns.

According to reports, Durov had traveled to Paris from Baku, Azerbaijan, where he was rumored to have had meetings, including speculative discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin—claims that Kremlin officials have since denied.

Telegram, which boasts over 800 million users globally, including many government and military officials on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, has denied any wrongdoing.

The company has consistently defended its platform’s neutrality and commitment to user privacy.

As the situation unfolds, Russia’s challenge to the legitimacy of France’s legal actions underscores the broader tensions between the two nations and raises questions about the intersection of politics and international legal processes.

The outcome of this case may have significant implications not only for Durov but also for the broader landscape of digital freedom and diplomatic relations.

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