Vaishnaw refutes Zuckerberg's claim about India's 2024 election results
What's the story
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has debunked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's claim about the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in India.
In a recent interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg claimed that most incumbent governments, including India, were defeated in the 2024 elections.
"This claim is factually incorrect," Vaishnaw responded to Zuckerberg's remarks on X.
He noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had won a third consecutive term in these elections.
Twitter Post
Ashwini Vaishnaw's post on X
As the world’s largest democracy, India conducted the 2024 elections with over 640 million voters. People of India reaffirmed their trust in NDA led by PM @narendramodi Ji’s leadership.
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) January 13, 2025
Mr. Zuckerberg’s claim that most incumbent governments, including India in 2024 elections,…
Effective leadership
Vaishnaw highlights successful governance during pandemic
Vaishnaw further stressed that more than 640 million Indian voters had reaffirmed their trust in Modi's leadership in the 2024 elections.
He credited the success to effective governance during the pandemic, mentioning initiatives like distributing free food to 800 million people and administering 2.2 billion free vaccines.
The minister also expressed disappointment over Zuckerberg's misinformation and urged Meta to "uphold facts and credibility."
Fact-checking debate
Meta's decision to disband US fact-checking program sparks controversy
Zuckerberg's remarks came just days after Meta disbanded its US fact-checking program. The decision was perceived as an effort to appease President-elect Donald Trump and his conservative base.
Critics, including US President Joe Biden, have expressed concerns over the potential ramifications of scaling back fact-checking efforts.
Defending his decision against criticism, Zuckerberg likened the fact-checking program to George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984."
He intends to replace it with a "community notes" system similar to that on Elon Musk-owned platform X.