Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is facing backlash on social media for holding a placard reading 'Smash Brahminical Patriarchy' on Monday.
During his recent visit to the country, Dorsey interacted with a few women journalist and activists to discuss the Twitter experience in India. A picture of the gathering soon went viral.
In the image, the CEO can be seen holding a placard reading 'Smash Brahminical Patriarchy'.
Shortly after the post went viral, people took to their twitter handles to voice their disapproval.
"Do you realise that this picture has potential of causing communal riots at a time when several States are going to Assembly Elections in India. Even now an apology is not offered. Actually its a fit case for registration of a criminal case for attempt to destablise the nation," tweeted a verified user named Sandeep Mittal, who describes himself as Joint Secretary, Parliament of India in his twitter bio.
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"U have no business to interfere in India's internal matters during Elections year. Jack played dirty divisive castieists politics using fake Journos activists banner! As per Twitter Rules and policies, suspend Jack handle for spreading caste hatred," read another tweet.
Reacting to the backlash, Twitter India released an unofficial statement which stating that the poster was 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".
Explaining the context behind the picture, Twitter India wrote, "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."
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The clarification, however, did not seem to stymy users who felt offended by the picture.
Interestingly, this might end up becoming the defining moment of the Twitter boss' India visit, leaving the online space more polarised.
Earlier this month, as part of his Indian visit, Jack Dorsey met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and indulged into a discussion about the steps, which can be taken by the micro-blogging platform in order to ramp up their engagements with the government in order to curb fake news and other objectionable contents.
ANI
