Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sparked a backlash by tweeting about his vacation in Myanmar, a country the United Nations has accused of engaging in genocide.
Dorsey tweeted Saturday that he celebrated his recent birthday in the Southeast Asian country, which is also often referred to as Burma. Dorsey took part in a 10-day silent Buddhist meditation, saying it allowed him "to hack the deepest layer of the mind and reprogram it."
Several times in his tweet thread, Dorsey praised Mynamar and urged people to visit the country.
Myanmar is an absolutely beautiful country. The people are full of joy and the food is amazing. I visited the cities of Yangon, Mandalay, and Bagan. We visited and meditated at many monasteries around the country. pic.twitter.com/wMp3cmkfwi
— jack (@jack) December 9, 2018
And if you’re willing to travel a bit, go to Myanmar: https://t.co/9qKm78uq7o
— jack (@jack) December 9, 2018
Dorsey's tweets did not mention that in recent years Mynamar's military and Buddhist extremists have engaged in mass persecution and murder of the Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority. In 2017, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson labeled the campaign of killing, mass rape, and forced relocation "ethnic cleansing." In August, the United Nations called for Myanmar's leaders to be tried for crimes against humanity and genocide.
Twitter users slammed the tweet thread, accusing Dorsey of being tone deaf for completely ignoring the plight of the Rohingya.
I’m sure the Rohingya would beg to differ. https://t.co/2tfwO4DaOq
— Imraan Siddiqi (@imraansiddiqi) December 9, 2018
The amount of "privilege" it takes to shamelessly celebrate your birthday in a country committing a military ethnic cleansing campaign against its people is beyond me. But Happy Birthday, @jack! https://t.co/OTTa7CQAvI
— Kelsey Harkness (@kelseyjharkness) December 10, 2018
I’m no expert on meditation, but is it supposed to make you so self-obsessed that you forget to mention you’re in a country where the military has committed mass killings & mass rape, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee, in one of today’s biggest humanitarian disasters? https://t.co/D7I26CPTQ8
— Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) December 9, 2018
Extremists in Myanmar are the ones using social media platforms to push misinformation that’s incited the ongoing genocide against the Rohingya. Thousands are dead; tens of thousands are displaced. https://t.co/difCObPHow
— Anil Dash (@anildash) December 9, 2018