Video: Twitter India Director Says, 'When You Make Governance More Transparent, Things Get Better'
When Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the mid-15th century, he tore down barriers to communication and enabled common people to take on powerful institutions, such as Martin Luther when he launched the Protestant Reformation. At an Asia Society India Centre talk in Mumbai on January 29, India and Southeast Asia Market Director for Twitter Rishi Jaitly argued that today, Twitter has taken this process a step further.
“For many of us that blue bird would make Johannes Gutenberg proud,” Jaitly said. “Because many of us believe that Twitter is indeed the full realization of this vision of truly frictionless content publishing and content consumption.”
Jaitly listed examples of how ordinary people in India have used the platform to do everything from getting street lamps fixed to getting out of jail after unlawful arrest. “What that tells you is that governance is now happening in the light of day,” he said. “Or as we say at Twitter, in ‘digital light.’ When you make governance more transparent, things get better.”
In the video above, Jaitly discusses how Twitter is adapting to the Indian market, and also changing it by flattening barriers to communication.