'Disappointing To See Misinformation': Vaishnaw Fact-Checks Zuckerberg’s Claim On 2024 Polls

Last Updated:January 13, 2025, 18:52 IST

In a post on X, Vaishnaw stated that Zuckerberg's statement about incumbent governments losing post-Covid, including India, was "factually incorrect"

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. (File photos)

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday strongly responded to a claim by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about India’s 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In a post on X, Vaishnaw stated that Zuckerberg’s statement about incumbent governments losing post-Covid, including India, was “factually incorrect."

Vaishnaw clarified that India, as the world’s largest democracy, successfully conducted its 2024 elections with over 640 million voters. He also highlighted that people had reaffirmed their trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership under the NDA government.

“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," the Union Minister wrote in his post.

The minister listed several achievements during Modi’s tenure, including providing free food to 800 million people, distributing 2.2 billion free vaccines, and offering aid to other nations during the COVID pandemic. He added that Modi’s third-term victory reflected good governance and public trust.

“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," he added.

In his post, Vaishnaw tagged Meta, the parent company of Facebook, expressing disappointment that Zuckerberg, a prominent figure, spread misinformation. “It’s disappointing to see misinformation from Mr. Zuckerberg himself. Let’s uphold facts and credibility," he noted.

Zuckerberg’s comments

The controversy began when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, during a recent appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast, suggested that most incumbent governments, including India, lost in elections following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking to Rogan, Zuckerberg said, “I kind of think that, reaction on covid probably caused the breakdown in trust in lot of governments around the world. 2024 was the big election year around the world and lot of countries like India and ton of countries that had elections and incumbents basically lost every single one."

He further added: “There is some sort of global phenomena where the 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’s global not just the US, but like a very broad decrease in trust at least in the set incumbents and maybe in sort of these democratic institutions overall."

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