In the wake of a controversy sparked by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s comments regarding the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a senior representative of the tech giant in India has issued an apology. Zuckerberg’s remarks had incorrectly implied that incumbent governments, including India’s, had lost during the elections, a claim that drew significant backlash from Indian officials.
Meta India’s Vice President (Public Policy), Shivnath Thukral, addressed the issue directly in a statement shared on social media. He wrote, “Dear Honourable Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Mark’s observation that many incumbent parties were not re-elected in 2024 elections holds true for several countries, but not India. We would like to apologise for this inadvertent error. India remains an incredibly important country for Meta and we look forward to being at the heart of its innovative future.”
This statement followed Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s fact-checking of Zuckerberg’s remarks. Minister Vaishnaw, who oversees Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and Information Technology in the Modi government, refuted the claim in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections reaffirmed public trust in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“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. Mr. Zuckerberg’s claim that most incumbent governments, including India in 2024 elections, lost post-COVID is factually incorrect,” the Minister asserted.
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Zuckerberg’s remarks were made during a podcast on January 10, where he discussed the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on political trust. He had stated, “2024 was a very big election year around the world and 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. It seems to have had this effect that’s global.”
However, Minister Vaishnaw highlighted the NDA government’s achievements that contributed to its decisive third-term victory. “From free food for 800 million, 2.2 billion free vaccines, and aid to nations worldwide during COVID, to leading India as the fastest-growing major economy, PM Modi’s decisive 3rd-term victory is a testament to good governance and public trust. Meta, it’s disappointing to see misinformation from Mr. Zuckerberg himself. Let’s uphold facts and credibility,” he added.
The issue also caught the attention of BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communication and Information Technology. Dubey announced that Meta would be summoned to explain the error, emphasizing the seriousness of misinformation in a democratic context.
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“Misinformation on a democratic country maligns its image. The organisation would have to apologise to the Parliament and the people here for this mistake,” he said in a post on X.
Meta’s apology marks an attempt to quell the controversy, reaffirming its commitment to India as a key market. The incident, however, underscores the challenges of maintaining accuracy and credibility in statements by influential global leaders, especially regarding sensitive political matters.
