Things are shaking up over at Twitter Inc.
Alexander Macgillivray, Twitter‘s general counsel, unexpectedly stepped down from his position on Friday, which he had held since September 2009.
Macgillivray, who was known in the Twittersphere as “˜a champion of free speech‘ tweeted the news of his resignation himself.
Passing the torch. I care deeply about Twitter and our users, will continue to help while exploring other passions http://t.co/EBY6UZyN72
“” Alex Macgillivray (@amac) August 30, 2013
“œI‘m looking forward to engaging my various Internet passions from new and different perspectives, seeing friends and family without distraction, and just goofing off a bit. We should all do more of that,“ he wrote in a personal blog post.
Twitter‘s top lawyer was always campaigning for Twitter users‘ right to express themselves and helped many users fend off legal challenges concerning freedom of speech issues.
Macgillivray did a lot for Twitter‘s reputation as a champion for human rights over the years. He also coined the now famous motto that Twitter is “œthe free speech wing of the free speech party“.
His resignation, however comes at a time when things seem to be changing at Twitter. It is widely expected that the company is preparing to go public, with their initial public offering expected in 2014.
Twitter declined to comment on Macgillivray‘s resignation, but said that he would be replaced by Vijaya Gadde and that Macgillivray will continue to support the social site as an adviser.
Gadde has been managing Twitter‘s corporate and international legal work and is also the former senior director in Juniper Networks legal department.
The social network has more than 200 million active users and has become a well used and respected platform for celebrities, politicians and activists to voice their opinions and interact with their followers.
Twitter‘s public policy group, which has up until now reported to Macgillivray, will now directly report to Chief Executive, Dick Costolo.
Whether Macgillivray‘s resignation has anything to do with Twitter‘s reported plans to go public, remains to be seen. The company is adamant, however, that they will still continue to be “œthe free speech wing of the free speech party.“
Source: My Broadband
