iWorld
Meta public policy vice president Simon Milner to step down after 14-year run
Singapore: Simon Milner is calling time on a long and influential career in public policy. The vice-president of public policy for Asia-Pacific at Meta will retire from full-time work later this year, marking the end of a 14-year stint at the social media giant and more than two decades at the heart of media, telecoms and technology regulation.
Milner, who joined Facebook in 2012 and later led Meta’s public policy strategy across Asia-Pacific, said the second half of his career had been “off the scale” in terms of opportunity, challenge and impact. He plans to stay on for a few months to help identify and transition a successor before stepping away.
Based in Singapore, Milner has spent the past eight years steering Meta’s policy engagement across one of its most complex regions, overseeing teams from Delhi and Beijing to Tokyo, Wellington and beyond. His tenure included high-profile parliamentary hearings across Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore, where he was questioned for hours on issues ranging from misinformation to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Before taking charge of Asia-Pacific in 2018, Milner served as policy director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He joined Facebook initially to head policy for the UK and Ireland, before building the company’s first policy teams across the Middle East, Turkey, Israel and Africa. He became a familiar public face for the company during debates on online safety, hate speech, countering violent extremism and internet regulation, particularly in the wake of the 2016 US election.
Prior to Facebook, Milner held senior policy roles at BT and the BBC. At BT, he helped lead the legal challenge that derailed key parts of the UK’s Digital Economy Act copyright regime. At the BBC, he served as secretary during one of the corporation’s most turbulent periods, including the political fallout over coverage of the Iraq war.
Alongside his executive roles, Milner has served on multiple boards, including the UK digital inclusion charity Good Things Foundation and the Authority for Television on Demand, reflecting a long-standing focus on access, regulation and public interest outcomes in the digital economy.
As he prepares to step back, Milner leaves behind a policy landscape transformed by platforms, pressure and politics. Few have spent as long defending, shaping and explaining Big Tech to governments. Fewer still have done it across so many capitals.
iWorld
Subedaar puts Indian original cinema on the global map with record-breaking Prime Video debut
MUMBAI: Prime Video has a runaway hit on its hands. Subedaar, the gritty action drama starring Anil Kapoor, has stormed to become the most-watched Indian original movie on the platform in its opening weekend, cracking the Top 10 across 31 countries and landing in 91 per cent of India’s pin codes within days of its March 5 premiere.
The film, a visceral, emotionally-charged story of a retired soldier, Subedaar Arjun Maurya, wrestling with civilian life amid crime and corruption, has struck a nerve. Directed by Suresh Triveni and co-starring Radhikka Madan, Mona Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Aditya Rawal, Faisal Malik, and Khushboo Sundar, the film is already being hailed as a showcase for what Indian original storytelling can achieve on the world stage.
“Subedaar’s success is a reflection of the growing scale and global resonance of Indian storytelling,” said Nikhil Madhok, director and head of originals at Prime Video India. “The film’s emotional narrative, its rooted portrayal of a soldier confronting his toughest battles beyond the battlefield, has struck a chord. Anil Kapoor delivers an acting masterclass, while Suresh Triveni’s solid direction and great performances from the ensemble cast have resulted in love and appreciation from customers across the world.”
Kapoor, 62, has been here before, but rarely at this altitude. Written by Triveni and Prajwal Chandrashekar, with dialogues by Triveni, Saurabh Dwivedi, and Chandrashekar, the film is a production by Opening Image Films in association with Anil Kapoor Film & Communication Network (AKFCN), produced by Vikram Malhotra, Kapoor, and Triveni.
Subedaar streams exclusively on Prime Video in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu across India, and in over 240 countries and territories worldwide.
For Prime Video, the numbers tell the real story: one weekend, one film, a global footprint, and a very loud signal that Indian original cinema is no longer just travelling well. It’s arriving.
