Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, recently underwent on a 10-day silent Vipassana meditation in Myanmar. After going through a social media blackout which lasted the whole span of meditation, he took to Twitter to share his experience with other people about what he experienced during this whole period.
For my birthday this year, I did a 10-day silent vipassana meditation, this time in Pyin Oo Lwin, Myanmar ??. We went into silence on the night of my birthday, the 19th. Here’s what I know ??
— jack (@jack) December 9, 2018
In a series of tweets published on the popular social media network that he is overseeing, he explained what the meditation was about and shared his experience about what was, in his opinion, an extremely painful and demanding activity. He shared his daily routine with his followers and, ultimately, concluded the series of tweets with a praise for the people and country of Myanmar, which contained glowing praises for people, food, and scenery found all around 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
This last bit was problematic as people online weren’t impressed with his glowing remarks about a country which is, according to latest resolutions passed by UN, involved in a mass genocide and ethnic cleansing of its Rohingya people. He completely ignored any mention of that troubled community and only chose to highlight the positive aspects of the country he spent the last couple of week in.
Mohammed Jamjoom, a senior correspondent at Al Jazeera, called out Jack by showing his disbelief over the whole thread.
I’ve interviewed dozens of #Rohingya #refugees who shared horrific details of atrocities committed against them by #Myanmar’s military. It was only in Oct that the head of a UN fact finding mission said genocide was ongoing in #Rakhine. This thread left me utterly speechless. https://t.co/j78ttbq5pF
— Mohammed Jamjoom (@MIJamjoom) December 9, 2018
The opinion online is split between those defending Jack for sharing his own experience and not participating in political commentary, and those who believe that ignoring mass genocide is equivalent to lending its perpetrators a free pass to continue their horrific activities.
See if you can work out the difference between problems with police and deliberate genocide.
— Benedict Evans (@benedictevans) December 9, 2018
To be fair, there is nothing wrong in sharing your own experience and presenting your own point of view, but when you are at a position where you are capable of influencing the views of people who follow you, it becomes your responsibility to carefully choose your words and actions to prevent damaging larger and moral causes. As Uncle Ben famously said in Spiderman, “With great power, comes great responsibility.”
It might not seem big, but the tweets by Jack Dorsey that paint Myanmar as a peaceful and joyful country go directly against the suffering and pain being suffered by the Rohingya population. The efforts of UN to point out the ruthless suppression and ethnic cleansing being carried out by Myanmar government may suffer a blow due to the positive picture painted by Jack in his recent tweets.
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