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Twitter chief executive officer Jack Dorsey sparked a social media outrage after a tweet with a picture of him holding a purportedly 'anti-Brahmin' poster went viral, with netizens slamming him for "hate-mongering", a charge the company denied saying the poster did not reflect views of Twitter or its CEO.
The photograph -- tweeted by a journalist -- showed Dorsey standing with six women and holding a poster with a message "smash Brahminical patriarchy".
The class-specific poster seemed to have offended many Indians with the former chief financial officer of Infosys, TV Mohandas Pai, accusing Dorsey of "hate-mongering" against Brahmins and of institutionalising hatred.
"As an Indian, I am disappointed at Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's 'Smash Brahminical Patriarchy' placard - will Minister @Ra_THORe (Rajyavardhan Rathore) pl take action for this hate mongering against an Indian community, spreading hatred? @PMOIndia @rsprasad," Pai tweeted.
Twitter, in a statement, said it had hosted a closed-door discussion with a group of women journalists and change makers from India to better understand their experience about Twitter.
One of the participants shared her experience as a Dalit woman and at the conclusion of the session, gifted a poster to Jack, a Twitter spokesperson said.
"The sentiments expressed on the poster do not reflect the views of Twitter as a company or Jack as the CEO, and we regret that this picture has detracted from an otherwise insightful trip to India," the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson said Twitter is a platform where "marginalised voices can be seen and heard, but we also have a public commitment to being apolitical. We realise that this photo may not accurately represent that commitment".
However, users seemed unconvinced with many questioning why the CEO of a large company would hold such a poster.
Twitter, which has over 300 million monthly active users, counts India as among its largest markets. It has a large number of Indian politicians on its platform, who engage regularly with the public and extensively use it around elections. The company, however, does not break out its country-specific user count.
Earlier this month, Dorsey made his maiden trip to India. During his visit, he met Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama and Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Dorsey also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed the importance of global conversations on social media platforms.
The Twitter spokesperson said its global platform serves global, public conversation, and elevates a diversity of views, ideas, and perspectives.
"When our executives travel, they meet with a range of public figures from around the world that represent the diversity of the conversation on our platform. This recent trip to India was no exception and Jack and Vijaya met with leaders across the political spectrum, and from a range of religious and cultural backgrounds," the spokesperson said.