Sanjit Gill

In her role as Head of Public Policy for the UK and Ireland at Snap, the US technology company which operates visual messaging app Snapchat, Sanjit Gill says no two days are ever the same.

Sanjit, who graduated from Keele with a degree in Law & Criminology in 2007, joined the company in 2021 and is responsible for its public policy and government relations work in the UK & Ireland. The job can range from responding to regulator inquiries; overseeing outreach work with parents and schools to highlight Snapchat’s safety features, to providing evidence for Select Committee hearings in Parliament.

She said: “A key part of my job is to support business interests, and that involves looking at regulations and policies that are coming down the road and working with Government and key stakeholders to make sure that these initiatives are proportionate and workable for companies like ours which often get confused with Big Tech. We try to ensure a one-size fits all approach is not taken to tech firms because we are all very different in what we offer and how we operate. I spend a lot of my time in Westminster where it’s about making sure Snap’s voice is heard to shape thoughtful policy making.

“I would say 90% of my time is spent on online safety. At the moment we’re a company that is implementing the Online Safety Act and we’re working with Ofcom, the online safety regulator, to demonstrate that we’re a responsible service provider and are doing everything we can to help protect our users from harmful or illegal content.

“Online safety is a top priority at Snap, and social media platforms and messaging apps can receive negative attention and criticism. However, Snapchat’s number one use case is that it's a messaging service that connects people to friends and family which brings real benefits to them; so quite often my job involves highlighting that and doing some myth busting.

“We’re an app that has more than 21 million active users in the UK and the majority of those are people aged between 13 to 24. But we’re not a platform that is typically used or understood by politicians for example, so a lot of the work we do is about educating others to ensure they understand what Snapchat is about and demonstrating how we are meeting our safety obligations.

“For example, we’ve launched a pilot scheme with schools, and we do a lot of outreach work with parents, training them about Snapchat specifically and some of our safety measures. We find that for them, knowledge is power, and they feel much more comfortable letting their teens use Snapchat afterwards.

“We also have a duty to be a thought leader and understand the trends and sentiment of the markets in the UK and Ireland. So that’s understanding feedback from key stakeholders, whether it’s society, or focus groups, and working with young people directly so we can understand how we can enhance our safety measures and raise awareness around them too.

“It’s a challenging job but I love the fact no two days are the same, and as a parent myself, I find the work we do incredibly rewarding.”

Before moving to Snap, Sanjit was a civil servant where she spent 12 years at the Home Office working closely with Ministers on a range of public policies, including online harms, migration and digital policing.

And Sanjit, who grew up in Leamington Spa, says her time spent at Keele and her degree from the University gave her a solid foundation to progress her career.

She said: “My degree has helped me in so many ways in terms of the skills it has given me. One of my jobs in the Home Office involved reading long EU regulations and papers, and one of the modules I did best in at Keele was EU law, so I had the skills to be able to dissect complex papers and understand them.

“I went to an independent girls school where there were less than 40 people in my entire year, so coming to Keele and meeting people from so many different walks of life, cultures and backgrounds was amazing for me. I loved the atmosphere of being on campus and there was such a strong sense of community.

“Keele gave me the confidence to be brave and explore different things, and it was such a nurturing environment. I can’t be a big enough advocate for the experience, growing up and independence Keele gave me for the next step in my life.”

And asked for her advice to Keele’s current crop of students, Sanjit said: “I understand how challenging it is for students right now. I think a good degree will get you far, but you need more than just that. You’ve got to research, knock on doors, and have the confidence to put yourself out there. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, even if you think it’s a silly question, and use every opportunity you get to meet new people to learn something new.”