Twitter Apologies For CEO's Photo With Offending Poster Causes Outrage In India

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, has sparked angers in the Indian social media after him being photographed holding a poster declaring 'smash Brahminical patriarchy' during a visit to India - one of its fastest growing markets.

Jack Dorsey held the poster saying 'smash Brahminical patriarchy' during a visit to India

The photograph was taken when the Twitter CEO was holding a offtending placard alongside 6 women who were participants in a last week’s discussion on the the company’s role in India, where caste is a major issue and grievances can even lead to violent.

“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,” tweeted Sandeep Mittal - an Indian police officer.

Dorsey also got a lot of accusations on Indian social media of "hate mongering" against Brahmins.

"Tomorrow if @jack is given a poster with anti Semitic messages in a meeting, will his team allow him to hold it up?,"  tweeted TV Mohandas Pai, a former director of Infosys. "Why is that any different? Inciting hate against any community is wrong."

Twitter defended Dorsey saying that that poster was given to him by an activist when she hosted a close discussion with a group of women to understand more about their Twitter experience.

Later that day, the lead of policy, legal and trust and safety at Twitter who went with Dorsey to India also apologized saying the poster didn’t reflect their views.

Twitter has a very large global user base of around 326 million in average in Q3 2018. However, there is no information about user base in India. The company's executives have only revealed that India was among its fastest growing markets.

Twitter use in the country is expected to increase even more in the upcoming months as Indian political parties are trying to reach out to more voters before the general election.