New Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal Already Under Fire From The Right

Shortly after he was named Twitter’s new CEO, Parag Agrawal drew criticism from conservatives Monday as old social media posts and interviews led some to question how Agarwal will handle censorship, especially of far-right sources, on the social media platform.

Agrawal tweeted in 2010, "’If they are not gonna make a distinction between muslims and extremists, then why should I distinguish between white people and racists.’"

Some conservative commentators also pointed to Agrawal telling MIT Technology Review in 2020 that Twitter, like other private companies, isn’t “bound by the First Amendment,” leading some conservative commentators to speculate that Twitter’s “censorship” of right-wing sources will worsen


Twitter has not yet responded to Forbes’ request for comment.

Twitter co-founder and longtime CEO Jack Dorsey announced he was stepping down from his role at the company Monday morning and that Agrawal will immediately succeed him as CEO. Agrawal has been at the company since 2011 and served as the Chief Technology Officer since 2017. Though he will need to answer investors’ questions about Twitter’s plans to jumpstart user growth and revenue, perhaps Agrawal’s biggest role will be how he navigates issues of censorship, especially controversial public figures. Dorsey received criticism from both the left and the right over Twitter’s decision to permanently ban former President Donald Trump’s account in January for his role in inciting the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Many on the left felt Dorsey should have acted earlier to prevent the spread of misinformation and harmful materials, while others felt Twitter’s ban was setting a dangerous precedent for silencing opposing political views.
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Jason Miller, CEO of conservative social media platform GETTR, tweeted Monday that Agrawal may be a bigger threat to “free speech” than his predecessor, which is a high bar in Miller’s view, considering he said in a Monday statement Dorsey dedicated his tenure as CEO to finding “new ways to trample freedom of speech.”

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BREAKING: Messi makes history, clinches 7th Ballon d’Or November 29, 2021

Paris Saint-Germain superstar Lionel Messi has been awarded the 2021 Ballon d’Or.

At a star-studded ceremony in Paris on Monday evening, the 34-year-old Argentine forward was crowned the world’s best player for the seventh time.

It is a record seventh occasion overall after seeing off strong competition from the likes of Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, Real Madrid’s Benzema and Chelsea’s Jorginho.

Buzz had been growing for weeks that the Argentine was a cert for soccer’s highest individual accolade.

The brainchild of France Football magazine journalist Gabriel Hanot, the Ballon d’Or is widely seen as the most prestigious award in the footballing calendar.

Stanley Matthews of Blackpool and England was the inaugural winner while Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United and Real Madrid have dominated the 21st century, winning 12 times between them.

Police opens application portal, exempt pregnant women, amputees, from 2021 recruitment

The Nigeria Police Force on Monday said pregnant women, amputees and those with bent legs are exempted from participation in its 2021 recruitment exercise.

This followed the opening of its online application recruitment portal to commence the exercise.

In an announcement, the force said, “Female applicants must not be pregnant at the time of recruitment”.

Other categories of persons who are barred from applying include people with amputation on any part of the body, bow legs, and bent “knees which cannot be straightened when standing at attention.”

The force also stated that applicants must be free from any pecuniary embarrassment.

Also, applicants with impediment of speech, knocked knees, and defective eye sight/squint eyes, would not be accepted for enlistment into the Force.

Requirements for application into the Force include National Identification Number, active email address, and working phone number.

“Applications are to be done online as the application portal is currently open.”

2023: Kogi Gov Declares For President

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has declared his intention to run for the office of president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The governor made the declaration at the launch of a campaign group called the Global Alliance of Progressive Professionals.


Speaking on behalf of the governor, Senator Smart Adeyemi said: “Kogi State is the safest of all the states in northern region and if you talk about the socio-economic development of any entity, you have to talk about how safe the environment is and what the governor has done is to make Kogi State a safe environment for foreign investment.

“I think Nigeria requires a leader who will police the nation well in order to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country.”


He further said: “the governor wants to run for the office of the president and we are delighted that he is running because the younger generation believe in him.

“We are here to know what is required so we can move from here to other parts of the country for campaign.

“Governor Bello is a visionary young man and he has the capacity for leadership. He has courage, he is intelligent and he has demonstrated that in Kogi State where he has been able to police the state effectively.

The coordinator of the group, Amb. Ahmed Chikaji, in his address said: “we are here today firstly for the official launch of a national movement, the Global Alliance Of Progressive Professionals – GAP3, a project of the Grassroots Aids Initiative (GAIN), a non-governmental organisation registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission.

“We are gathered here to make history in the nation’s political space to formally endorse a man who has distinguished himself in all speres of human endeavours with intimidating political credentials, Yahaya Bello, the executive governor of Kogi State to accept the clarion calls by Nigerians to contest the 2023 presidential election under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

[BREAKING] Ballon d’Or 2021: Barcelona star Pedri wins Kopa Trophy as best U-21 player

Barcelona midfielder Pedri has been named the winner of the Kopa Trophy as best U-21 player at the ongoing Ballon d’Or award ceremony.

Pedri joined Barca as a 17-year-old from Las Palmas in the summer of 2020 but quickly established himself as a key fixture in the Catalan club’s midfield.

He made 52 appearances in his first season at Camp Nou, winning the Copa del Rey, and playing a major role in Spain’s run to the semifinals at Euro 2020, where he was named Young Player of the Tournament. He made his international debut in March.

A month after the Euros, he was also part of the Spain under-23 team that reached the final of the Olympic Games, losing to Brazil after extra time.

Injuries have delayed his progress this season, though. He has made just four appearances for Barca thanks to a thigh problem and is expected to remain sidelined for the next few weeks.

Details later…

Coscharis Group’s CEO Cosmas Maduka loses wife, Charity

The wife of the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Coscharis Group, Dr Cosmas Maduka, is dead, 

It was gathered that Mrs Charity Maduka, the Vice-President of the Coscharis Group, died on Saturday evening in Nnewi, Anambra State.

Her namesake and daughter, Charity, confirmed the death of her mother to The journalist on Sunday evening.

“I can confirm that she passed away yesterday (Saturday) evening,” a grieving Charity said amid muttered sobs in a phone conversation with our correspondent.


According to a profile on Coscharis Group’s website, Mrs Maduka was a co-owner of the company founded by her husband.

“In her capacity, she was once the Executive Director supervising the Administrative, Legal, Works / Maintenance, Export, Technologies teams of the organization from 1984 – 2003. Under her tutelage, she was able to grow the business by creating value via the various strategic departments she supervised within the organization.

“As a board member of the group, in the year 2005, she later became the Executive Chairman / COO of two of the subsidiaries of the Coscharis Group namely Coscharis Beverages Limited and Coscharis Properties Limited respectively,” the profile read in part.

The deceased was also a professional teacher and caterer. She attended Teachers’ Training College, Nsugbe in Anambra State from 1979 to 1981. Also attended Consertum Institute of Catering and Hotel Management, Idi-Araba, Lagos State from February to July, 1983.

“She had a brief stint as a teacher at Akamili Central School, Umudim – Nnewi between October and December 1981. Also at Tolu Primary School III, Tolu Village, Ajeromi Ifelodun / Apapa, LGA, Lagos between January 1982 and January 1983. She has equally attended various Leadership and Entrepreneurship training seminars/courses both home and abroad,” it added.

Mrs Maduka got married to Dr Cosmas in 1978 and the union produced three sons and a daughter.