Meta in trouble over Zuckerberg's India election remark; summons likely
What's the story
Meta, the social media giant formerly known as Facebook, is looking at summons by India's Parliamentary Standing Committee after Mark Zuckerberg claimed that most incumbent governments, including India, were defeated in the 2024 elections. In a recent interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg claimed the ruling party lost the Lok Sabha polls due to its "weak Covid-19 response." Reacting to the remarks, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey said Meta would have to apologize to the Parliament.
Misinformation
Zuckerberg's comments on 2024 Indian election
"My committee will call Meta for this disinformation. Misinformation in any democratic country tarnishes the image of the country. That organization will have to apologize to the Indian Parliament and the people here for this mistake," Dubey said. Earlier, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had also fact-checked Zuckerberg's claim. He explained that India's people renewed their faith in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2024 elections.
Leadership
Vaishnaw highlights Modi's leadership during pandemic
"As the world's largest democracy, India conducted the 2024 elections with over 640 million voters," Vaishnaw wrote on X. Vaishnaw emphasized Modi's leadership during the pandemic as a reason for his electoral success. He mentioned initiatives like providing free food for 800 million people and administering 2.2 billion free vaccines. He stressed that Modi's third-term victory was "a testament to good governance and public trust."
Changes
What did Zuckerberg exactly say
During the podcast on January 10, Zuckerberg said, "2024 was a very big election year...all these countries, India, had elections. The incumbents basically lost every single one." "There is some sort of a global phenomenon—whether it was because of inflation or the economic policies to deal with Covid or just how the governments dealt with Covid," he said. The remarks came after Meta recently shut down its fact-checking program, instead choosing a "Community Notes" system similar to that of X.