Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 15: Amid the massive row over Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg’s remark on the 2024 general election holding the BJP a loser in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Meta India on Wednesday apologised for the “inadvertent error.”
Responding to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s post fact-checking Zuckerberg’s remark on 2024 elections across the globe, Meta India’s vice-president (public policy) Shivnath Thukral said on X, “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.”
Following the apology, BJP leader Nishikant Dubey said the matter was “closed.” “A Meta India official has finally apologised for the mistake. This is a victory of the common citizens of India,” Mr Dubey, who chairs the Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology, said in a post on X.
Mr Dubey said people elected Narendra Modi as Prime Minister for the third consecutive term which was a testimony to his strong leadership. “Now the responsibility of our committee ends on this issue. We treat this issue closed. However, we will continue to hold these social platforms to account in the future on other issues,” Mr Dubey said.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had earlier called out the remarks made by Mr Zuckerberg on the Joe Rogan podcast. “Mr Zuckerberg’s claim that most incumbent governments, including India in 2024 elections, lost post-COVID is factually incorrect,” Mr Vaishnaw had said in a post on X on January 13.
“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,” said Mr Vaishnaw, who is Minister for Information and Broadcasting as well as IT. The Minister had debunked Mr Zuckerberg’s remarks as misinformation, and made it clear that Meta must uphold facts and credibility.
“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,” Mr Vaishnaw had said.
Mr Dubey, who heads the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, had on Tuesday said the panel would summon the firm following its chairman’s comments that India’s ruling dispensation lost the Lok Sabha election last year. “My committee will summon Meta for this incorrect information. Incorrect information about any democratic country tarnishes its image. This organisation will have to apologise to the Indian Parliament and the people here for this mistake,” Mr Dubey had said in a post on X.
In a podcast on January 10, the 40-year-old Facebook co-founder had said the Covid pandemic had led to an erosion of trust in incumbent governments the world over. He incorrectly cited India’s example in this connection. “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,” he had said.