Parag Agarwal found himself amid controversy on the day he was appointed as the new Twitter CEO after his old tweet on Muslims and Extremism went viral. Later, the 37-year-old IIT alumnus issued clarification and said that he was quoting a line from a television show. The tweet talks about people not differentiating between Muslims and Extremists, and likened it to racists and white people.
The tweet can be interpreted in multiple ways, and on Twitter, the new CEO is being called out for passing blanket statements. Further, it’s not also clear whether Agarwal was just quoting a line from a show, or was using the line as a guise to share his opinion.
Background
On November 29, outspoken Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey stepped out of the CEO’s shoes. Dorsey’s big shoes will be filled by former Twitter CTO Parag Agarwal who has been associated with Twitter since 2011. After Microsoft, Adobe, Google and IBM, Twitter is now among tech giants that has appointed Indian-origin person as the CEO of their company.
Twitter was founded back in 2006 with Dorsey as the co-founder and the face and voice of the brand. He later served as the CEO of the micro-blogging platform. On September 29, he issued a statement in which he said he had a “deep trust” in Parag and further expressed gratitude for Parag’s “skill, heart and soul”.
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The Facts of the Matter
The social media trap is such that it’s getting harder and harder to manage without being on a social media platform. And once we get ourselves on a platform, every word we send out, every thought we broadcast, and every opinion we share, is open to scrutiny. This is especially seen when a person finds world-wide popularity and their old tweets, messages, or posts are dug into and scrutinized.
Right after Jack Dorsey stepped down as the CEO of popular social media platform Twitter and Indian-origin Parag Agarwal stepped into his shoes, a controversy started brewing. An old tweet of Parag where he equated racists & white men to Muslims and extremist.
The tweet reads, “If they are not gonna make a distinction between Muslims and extremists, then why should I distinguish between white people and racists.”
"If they are not gonna make a distinction between muslims and extremists, then why should I distinguish between white people and racists."
— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) October 26, 2010
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Twitteratis React to New Twitter CEO’s Old Tweet
After the tweet was dug out from the depths of time, several netizens commented on the tweet. While some were calling out Agarwal for being ‘woke’, others were trying to make sense of the tweet.
Resign
— Pete D’Abrosca (@pdabrosca) November 29, 2021
Meet the new woke racist boss.
Same as the old woke racist boss.— Kevin Dalton (@NextLAMayor) November 29, 2021
There is no agreed upon way to even define "white people".
— Patrick🛡️ (@Ganelon778) November 29, 2021
So this is a good start to being CEO of Twitter
— Mike (@M_jopink) November 29, 2021
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Parag Agarwal Issues Clarification on Old Tweet Regarding Muslims
Before a mountain could be created out of a mow hill, another tweet of Parag was dug out. In that tweet, Parag was explaining how the tweet was a verbatim quote and the articles that had published the tweet were “too deep” for his mental state. “I was quoting Asif Mandvi from The Daily Show. The article you are reading seems too deep for my current mental state.”
@Joylita I was quoting Asif Mandvi from The Daily Show. The article you are reading seems too deep for my current mental state.
— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) October 26, 2010
In another tweet, Parag was being his witty and sarcastic self and added, ““I am amused by people that pass judgement on people for passing judgement. I was attempting to do the same to amuse myself.”