The digital revolution is far more significant than the invention of writing or even of printing. —Douglas Engelbart

One of the most notable ways in which Indians have made their presence felt in the global arena is through their brilliance in information technology (IT), software development, and computer science. They have played pioneering roles in the digital revolution, at times referred to as the third industrial revolution, leading the celebrated engineer-inventor Douglas Engelbert to describe its significance in no uncertain terms.

Sometime in November 2021, Parag Agrawal with roots firmly moored in India, arrived grandly on the world digital stage, succeeding Co-Founder Jack Dorsey as the CEO of the San Francisco-headquartered Twitter Inc. The company that runs the eponymous micro-blogging and social networking service is a popular platform for users to post and interact with crisp, short messages—better known as tweets. Going forward, as he ascends to one of the most powerful roles in the social media universe, Agrawal, an IIT Bombay graduate, has promised to reshape the future of public conversation. His rise to the top in Twitter has come at a time when different political forces have been critical of the exceeding power social media sites exercise, especially when it relates to their capacity to control discourses and also unwittingly spread disinformation.