‘Incorrect’: Ashwini Vaishnaw fact-checks Zuckerberg’s claims on India election results

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday dismissed as “incorrect” the claims made by Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg who had said most incumbent governments, including that in India, had lost elections in 2024.

He said it’s disappointing to see misinformation from the Meta chief himself.

“Mr Zuckerberg’s claim that most incumbent governments, including India in 2024 elections, lost post-COVID is factually incorrect,” Vaishnaw said in a post on X.

The minister noted that as the world’s largest democracy, India had conducted the 2024 elections with over 640 million voters and claimed that the people of the country had reaffirmed their trust in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Vaishnaw went on to add that Modi’s decisive third term victory was a testament to 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 said.

“Meta, it’s disappointing to see misinformation from Mr. Zuckerberg himself. Let’s uphold facts and credibility,” the minister lamented.

Zuckerberg made the alleged claims on Friday in an interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan, where he was highlighting how Covid-19 pandemic led to the global erosion of trust in governments.

"2024 was a very big election year around the world and all these countries, India, had elections. The incumbents basically lost every single one,” Zuckerberg said.

“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,” the Meta chief said.