India to Call Meta in Light of Mark Zuckerberg Comments on the 2024 Elections India marking itself as a democracy looks towards Meta to clarify its statements regarding the 2024 parliamentary elections. Mark Zuckerberg has made allegations of Meta spreading misinformation with regard to the parliamentary elections in India claiming them to be “factually incorrect”. In the Joe Rogan podcast Zuckerberg commented that 2024 seems to be a transitory year for any elections across the world, and several elections held including India’s in which the incumbents were overruled, which has caused a stir in India. Summons Issued To Meta By The Parliamentary Committee The head of the Parliamentary Committee and Member of the BJP Mr. Nishikant Dubey has called for a parliamentary hearing to issue a explanation to all the allegations including Meta tarnishing the reputation of India by spreading misinformation.
In one of his recent posts, Dubey gave out an extremely bold statement:
“My committee shall entertain a summon to Meta for the wrong statements. It is to be remembered that issuing a wrong statement in a democratic state tarnishes its respect. This organization is bound to Congress and the inhabitants of this nation, where it is to tender an apology for this blunder.”
Government’s Response
This whole Partition with Meta had Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting quite riled up, she responded harshly to Zuckerberg’s claims labeling them “factually incorrect.”
Zuckerberg’s statement truly is filled with regret. “It is disappointing to see misinformation from Mr. Zuckerberg himself. It’s a good idea to go through the text,” Was his post on X in which he had included Meta in.
Vaishnaw went on to mention India’s achievements under Modi’s rule, one of them being and elaborating on the expansion of the Indian economy by stating:
”The most perfect evidence for good governance by people and the great trust given to him by people is the 3rd term victory that he had where he decisively ended all poverty in India providing free food for 800 million citizens, 2.2 billion citizens got free vaccines, and PM Modi ensured India was and is the highest GDP growing country in the world.’’
What Zuckerberg Claimed
While sharing his thoughts on global election trends, Zukerberg claimed that the electorate’s faith in the incumbents subdued which in turn was a global issue owing to the economic issues and pandemic related governance issues.
According to Zukerberg in the podcast, “There is some sort of global phenomenon, whether it was inflation because of the economic policies to deal with Covid or just how the governments dealt with Covid, seems to have this effect that is global, not just the US, but like a very broad decrease in trust in the set incumbents and maybe, in sort of these democratic institutions overall,”
India’s 2024 Election: What to Know
Zukerberg’s general statement didn’t age too well with India as BJP during the 2024 general election did not secure an outright majority. Though the alliance led by BJP dwarfed any opposition securing Modi his third term in office.
This disinformation has led to intense backlash and demands for Meta to make a statement and apologize. The Parliamentary Committee’s call also indicates the prevalence of a zero tolerance policy in India against such campaigns, which could otherwise be detrimental to the country’s democratic image internationally.