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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey unleashed a social media storm in India after a photo of him with a sign saying "Smash Brahminical Patriarchy", referring to the highest Hindu caste, became viral in one of the fastest growing markets in the group.
The photo, published Sunday on Twitter by a journalist who was part of a group of women journalists, activists and writers Dorsey met during a visit to India last week, had clutched at the poster of a woman holding a banner offended many Indians.
Several Indian figures, including T.V. Mohandas Pai, former chief financial officer of software exporter Infosys, accused Dorsey of "hate propaganda" against the Brahmins.
"Tomorrow, if @jack receives a poster with anti-Semitic messages at a meeting, will her team allow her to hold it?" Pai said. "Why is it different? To incite hatred against any community is a mistake. "
Twitter India said the poster had been handed over to Dorsey by a militant Dalit – the Dalits are at the bottom of the social hierarchy in Hinduism – during a closed-door discussion with a group of women to find out more about their experience using Twitter.
He added that the poster was a "tangible reflection of our company's efforts to see, hear and understand all aspects of the important public conversations taking place around our service around the world".
Late Monday, Vijaya Gadde, Legal, Policy, Trust and Security Manager at Twitter, who accompanied Dorsey to India, apologized.
"I'm really sorry for that. It does not reflect our opinions. We took a private photo with a gift that was just given to us – we should have been more thoughtful, "she said in a tweet. "Twitter strives to be an unbiased platform for all. We have not been able to do this here and we must do better to serve our customers in India. "
Twitter, whose average monthly user base is 326 million in July and September, does not disclose the number of its users in India, but its leaders said the country is experiencing the strongest growth.
Its use is expected to grow in India only in the coming months, as the country's 1.3 billion-strong political parties attempt to extend their reach to voters before the general elections. scheduled for the month of May.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with 44.4 million followers, is one of his biggest supporters.
"I love being in this environment where I've made great friends and I see people's creativity every day," Modi tweeted last week after meeting Dorsey in New Delhi.
