Ashwini Vaishnaw fact-checks Mark Zuckerberg on Lok Sabha poll results claim
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has refuted Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s claim regarding the outcome of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Zuckerberg had suggested that most incumbent governments worldwide, including India, were defeated in elections held post-Covid-19. Countering Zuckerberg’s statement, Vaishnaw said that the claims were “factually incorrect”.
In a recent podcast with Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg remarked, “2024 was a big election year around the world. All these countries, like 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- seems to have had this effect that’s global.”
“There was broad decrease in trust in incumbents and maybe in these sorts of democratic institutions overall,” the Meta CEO said. Zuckerberg’s comments, specifically mentioning India, provoked a sharp response from the government, with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw calling him out incorrect claims that the PM Modi-led government had lost the 2024 elections.
Vaishnaw highlighted the factual inaccuracy of Zuckerberg’s statement and said, “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 Narendra Modi’s leadership. Mr. Zuckerberg’s claim that most incumbent governments, including India in 2024 elections, lost post-Covid is factually incorrect.”
Vaishnaw pointed out that the National Democratic Alliance secured a decisive victory in 2024 polls, securing a third consecutive term in office. He cited government initiatives during the pandemic—including free food distribution to 800 million people, administering 2.2 billion free vaccines, and providing international aid—as evidence of effective governance.
The Union Minister also expressed disappointment over the spread of misinformation by Meta’s CEO. “Meta, it’s disappointing to see misinformation from Mr. Zuckerberg himself. Let’s uphold facts and credibility,” Ashwini Vaishnaw said on X.