Twitter CEO Faces Backlash For Holding Anti-Partriachy Poster With A Caste Reference

India is a country where taking offence could easily be one of our favourite past times, and this at a national level. Talking about it on Twitter, airing your polarising view on this micro-blogging platform is a close second. And Jack Dorsey should know. He is the CEO of Twitter.

Jack has landed himself plum in the middle of controversy after a picture of him was posted holding a placard that said “ Smash Brahminical Patriarchy” showed up on the internet. We can’t help but shake our head at this elementary mistake.

Jack, of all people, should know that controversy can be easily stirred up here in India. The #MeToo movement’s first ember was sparked on Twitter. You show up with a picture that’s anti-patriarchy, it’s okay. Good, even. Establishing a stance. We can blame you for a lack of tact, but that’s okay. But one that comes with a prefix? You should be careful there.

With just one word, Jack cannonballed into a cesspool of casteism. While he went onto apologising for his actions, as anybody who likes being alive in India does, this might have been a slip that’s caused a huge slide.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has apologized after posing with a "Smash Brahminical Patriarchy" placard in India pic.twitter.com/ZkHNdmZNYu

— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) November 21, 2018

Twitter India claimed that the poster was handed to Dorsey by a Dalit activist, and has released a statement through Vijaya Gadde, the legal head at Twitter India, who said, “I’m very sorry for this. It’s not reflective 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 and we must do better to serve our customers in India.”

Look at what you’ve done now. You’ve offended us. And the last time someone did it- you know, the guy at Snapchat said something about India- the platform lost followers but so did Snapdeal, so it’s all very confusing.  To draw this to a logical conclusion, here’s some friendly advice.  Do not hold a poster when in India.