INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Mumbai: Facebook has poached the head of video streaming service Hotstar to take on the newly-created role of managing director of its
Indian operations, as the social media giant faces pressure to tackle fake news and store more data locally.Ajit Mohan will take up the role
of managing director and vice-president of Facebook India, the company's biggest market by number of users, from early next year, it said on
Monday."India is one of the largest and most strategically important countries for Facebook," David Fischer, vice-president of business and
marketing partnerships at Facebook, said in a statement."Ajit's depth of experience will help us to continue to have a positive impact in
India across communities, organizations, businesses and with policy makers."Mr Mohan has served as chief executive of Hotstar, a streaming
platform owned by Twenty-First Century Fox's Star India arm, since April 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile.Mr Mohan's move comes at a
time Facebook is increasingly competing with video streaming services and TV channels for sports broadcasting rights.Facebook, which began
expanding into sports streaming in 2017, has the rights to stream Spanish soccer's top division La Liga's games in the Indian subcontinent
over the next three seasons.Mr Mohan has overseen the streaming of Indian Premier League cricket on Hotstar, which set a new global
benchmark with 8.26 million concurrent viewers logging onto the platform for the final of the league this year.He also takes over the top
job at Facebook India at a turbulent time for the US company.Facebook's WhatsApp messaging service has been under fire from the Indian
government over several mob beatings and deaths triggered by false, incendiary messages circulated on it.That, according to local media
reports, has caused delays in the official launch of Facebook's payments service in India.The company also plans to oppose new legislation
in India that would require it to store user data in the country.Separately, WhatsApp is looking for an India head too.It last month
appointed a grievance officer for Indian users based out of its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, like other global tech firms whose
grievance officers sit outside of India.The government has, however, said it will toughen up its tech laws including pushing US tech giants
