Twitter apologises amid row over CEO Jack Dorsey posing with 'Smash Brahmanical Patriarchy' placard

FP StaffNov 20, 2018 16:32:31 IST

Criticisms poured on Twitter against its CEO Jack Dorsey after a photograph of him holding a placard with the words 'Smash Brahminical Patriarchy' was posted online while he was visiting India.

By holding that offensive poster #Twitter head @jack just proclaimed he is a Brahmin hating, racist, bigot, masquerading as a woke Feminist. And he came to India to play politics. At least the pretence is over. pic.twitter.com/5FlFHMsIxp

— Smita Barooah (@smitabarooah) November 19, 2018

On his maiden voyage to the country, the CEO of the micro-blogging site interacted with a group of women journalists, activists and writers to discuss the Twitter experience in India. But a picture from the gathering soon went viral leading to an outrage on the website that, according to an India Today report, accused Dorsey of attacking an "ethnic group."

During Twitter CEO @jack's visit here, he & Twitter's Legal head @vijaya took part in a round table with some of us women journalists, activists, writers & @TwitterIndia's @amritat to discuss the Twitter experience in India. A very insightful, no-words-minced conversation 😊 pic.twitter.com/LqtJQEABgV — Anna MM Vetticad (@annavetticad) November 18, 2018

Meanwhile, the Twitter user who made the posters and gifted this particular placard to Dorsey tweeted her response saying that these reactions were a 'meltdown' over her artwork on ending caste apartheid.

Apparently #hindutva trolls are having a meltdown over my posters on #Endcasteapartheid and #Smashbrahmincalpatriarchy because @jack was gifted one of them from a #Dalit activist that was present. @twitterindia https://t.co/akzhupMh1K pic.twitter.com/l3YKnhweoz

— Dalit Diva (@dalitdiva) November 19, 2018

Following these comments, Twitter India issued an apology which stated: "Recently, we hosted a closed-door discussion with a group of women journalists and changemakers from India to better understand their experience using Twitter. One of the participants, a Dalit activist, shared her personal experiences and gifted a poster to Jack." The tweet also said that while the statement itself was not from the CEO or Twitter itself, it depicted the "company's efforts to see, hear, and understand all sides of important public conversations that happen on our service around the world."

Recently we hosted a closed door discussion with a group of women journalists and change makers from India to better understand their experience using Twitter. One of the participants, a Dalit activist, shared her personal experiences and gifted a poster to Jack. https://t.co/96gd3XmFgK — Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) November 19, 2018

It is not a statement from Twitter or our CEO, but a tangible reflection of our company's efforts to see, hear, and understand all sides of important public conversations that happen on our service around the world. — Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) November 19, 2018

I'm very sorry for this. It's not relective of our views. We took a private photo with a gift just given to us - we should have been more thoughtful. Twitter strives to be an impartial platform for all. We failed to do that here & we must do better to serve our customers in India — Vijaya Gadde (@vijaya) November 19, 2018

While in India, Dorsey also met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and delivered a talk at an event in IIT Delhi where he discussed Twitter's new youth initiative #Powerof18 and the platform's strategies to tackle fake news ahead of the 2019 elections.