After Musk’s Twitter buyout, firm’s India-born top lawyer attacked by conservative trolls

Vijaya Gadde (L) met PM Narendra Modi with her colleagues on a trip to India in 2018. Pic/Vijaya Gadde`s official Twitter account

The sale of social media platform Twitter to Tesla chief Elon Musk for US $44 billion was confirmed on Monday. To say this announcement sparked a storm on social media would be an understatement, as liberals and conservatives took to the site to debate policies and what this takeover means for public discourse.

India-born Vijaya Gadde, Twitter's top lawyer, is reported to have broken down as she expressed her concerns about the change in ownership, during a virtual meeting with her team. Gadde has played a key role in policy and legal issues such as banning political advertising and blocking former US President Donald Trump from the platform

On April 27, political podcast host Saagar Enjeti tweeted how Gadde was upset by the takeover.

This tweet received a response from Elon Musk, wherein he chose to criticise a decision (overseen by Gadde) to temporarily block a New York Post story. Although Musk has previously criticised Twitter's actions, this is the first instance of him publicly targeting an executive.

Musk's attack gave a free rein to his supporters and conservatives to troll Gadde relentlessly, even resorting to racist remarks. Twitter users also called for her termination once Musk takes charge.

Also Read: Don't know what direction Twitter will go in: CEO Parag Agrawal tells anxious employees