Brahminical Patriarchy Row: Twitter to Include Caste in Policy?

Participants of the meeting said Twitter agreed to look at including caste in its policy against ‘hateful conduct’.

The photo that received all the backlash. Jack Dorsey can be seen holding the poster.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@annavetticad)

Days after Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and the company’s legal head, Vijaya Gadde, held a closed-door meeting with a small group of women journalists and activists, the company has agreed to look into whether to include caste as a separate reporting category under its hateful conduct policy as per a mail sent to the participants of the meeting, reported The Indian Express.

Dorsey was photographed with the women holding a poster that read “Smash Brahminical Patriarchy” which led to controversy, after which Twitter India issued a statement on its commitment to being “apolitical”.

However, the participants have confirmed that Dorsey had agreed to look into ways to include caste as a part of the company’s policy against ‘hateful conduct’.

In a statement issued by Anna MM Vetticad, Nilanjana S Roy, Rituparna Chatterjee, and Sanghapali Aruna, who were a part of the meeting, the participants said, “It comes as a disappointment to all of us dealing with the abuse, harassment and legal threats that we are facing now, that Vijaya Gadde has, in a Twitter apology, chosen to claim that the photo was a “private photo”, has apologised to handles alleging that we were instigating hate, and — in sharp contrast to her emotional, apologetic response at that private meeting — publicly distanced herself from Dalit and gender concerns.”

The women have also mentioned that a Dalit rights activist pointed out the everyday battle of fighting caste slurs and each one of them pointed out the gaps in Twitter algorithm.

Twitter’s Email to Meeting Participants

According to a report in The Indian Express, an email was sent to the participants after the meet which read:

“Abusing people on the basis of caste would be a type of intra-religious distinction. It would fall under our hateful conduct policies, prohibiting the targeting of people based on their membership in a religious group. However, based on the useful feedback Vijaya received on this trip, she is going to discuss with the team whether this should be called out more explicitly.”

However, once the picture went viral and the controversy broke out, Twitter distanced itself from the “Smash Brahminical Patriarchy” poster.