NEW DELHI: Facebook India’s head of public policy Ankhi Das has moved on from her current role. She was with the organisation for over nine years and was a core team member.

A statement by Ajit Mohan, Facebook India's managing director, said: "Ankhi has decided to step down from her role in Facebook to pursue her interest in public service. Ankhi was one of our earliest employees in India and played an instrumental role in the growth of the company and its services over the last nine years. She has been a part of my leadership team over the last two years, a role in which she has made enormous contributions. We are grateful for her service and wish her the very best for the future."

“When I joined Facebook in 2011, internet growth in the country was woefully low and I often wondered how social and economic asymmetries will be addressed,” Das said in a post announcing her resignation.

“We were a small unlisted start-up back then guided only by our mission and purpose to connect people in India. After nine long years, I feel that the mission has largely been met. There is an enormous amount I have learnt from incredibly smart and talented people in the company, particularly from people on the policy team. This is a special company and a special group of people,” she added.

The resignation follows after Das was accused of allowing hate speech and not moderating political content well on Facebook pages. Several human rights commissions were actively pursuing the case and had called on the social media giant to place her on leave until it finishes conducting an ongoing audit of India operations.

A few days ago, Das appeared before a joint parliamentary committee looking into data protection and privacy, and was reportedly questioned for two hours.

Facebook was told by the panel that it should not draw inferences from user data for commercial benefit of its advertisers or for electoral purposes.