Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was on the receiving end of a Twitter storm after he appeared in a now viral photograph, holding a placard that said “Smash Brahmanical Patriarchy”.
Dorsey, who was in India recently, met with a group of women journalists for a closed-door roundtable discussion on how Indians experience Twitter. However, the interaction has come under fire after one of the journalists present there tweeted a photo of Dorsey with the placard.
https://twitter.com/annavetticad/status/1064084446909997056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1064084446909997056&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news18.com%2Fnews%2Fbuzz%2Ftwitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-faces-hate-for-posing-with-smash-brahmanical-patriarchy-placard-1944125.html
The trolling soon began. Former Infosys director TV Mohandas Pai accused the Twitter CEO of participating in a hate campaign against Brahmins.
As an Indian I am disappointed at Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's 'Smash Brahminical Patriarchy' placard – will Minister @Ra_THORe pl take action for this hate mongering against an Indian community,spreading hatred? @PMOIndia @rsprasad https://t.co/TMae3DbNXa
— Mohandas Pai (@TVMohandasPai) November 19, 2018
This is a country that voted an OBC to the highest office of the land with a historic mandate. Am sure @jack celebrated when Obama was elected. To pose with hate speech when you say Twitter should be a space for healthy conversation shows how hollow those words are.
— Advaita Kala / अद्वैता काला (@AdvaitaKala) November 19, 2018
The trolling became so intense that Twitter had to issue a statement, clarifying the incident. According to the post made by the company on Twitter itself, Dorsey had been participating in the closed-door interaction with women journalists when one of them, a Dalit journalist, gifted him the poster. The company also added that the placard was not a statement by Twitter or its CEO but rather an attempt hearing the diverse voices that are part of society.
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
