'The Decider' quits Twitter to become White House deputy CTO
Nicole Wong to right wrongs on wrong rights?
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Twitter executive Nicole Wong has taken a new job at the very top of the American government.
The microblogging site's former legal director for products has been named deputy US chief technology officer.
Her decision to join politics will no doubt be interpreted as a move to the dark side, particularly in the wake of the PRISM scandal.
Gossip about Wong's move has swirled for several weeks.
She confirmed the move with the following tweet:
Many thanks to my Tweeps! A short but sweet flight with you. pic.twitter.com/CGbaBpdcfJ
— nicolewong (@nicolewong) June 19, 2013
Wong took a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley, before making her name as a vice president and deputy general counsel at Google, where she was dubbed The Decider and made big decisions about removing content that violated copyright or local laws.
The power Wong held was so significant it led the New York Times to say the former Google veep and her colleagues "arguably have more influence over the contours of online expression than anyone else on the planet".
She spent eight years at Google before moving to Twitter in January 2012. Her new job will see her working under chief technology officer Todd Park.
While big American tech firms have been slammed for handing over data to US spooks, Twitter has been known to stand up to the government on occasion. It was the top rated tech firm on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's rankings on how companies defend their users' personal information. ®
