NEW DELHI: IT and information & broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Monday “fact-checked” Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg’s recent statement that incumbent govts in several countries, including India, had lost elections in the post-Covid period.
Saying Zuckerberg’s claim was “factually incorrect”, Vaishnaw posted on X, “@Meta, it’s disappointing to see misinformation from Mr Zuckerberg himself. Let’s uphold facts and credibility.”
Vaishnaw’s “fact-check” comes a week after Zuckerberg announced that Meta was disbanding its US fact-checking programme.
Zuck touted Covid link to incumbents losing across world
Appearing on the Joe Rogan podcast, Zuckerberg had said 2024 was the big election year around the world and in a lot of countries like India, the incumbents lost the polls.
“There is some sort of global phenomenon, whether it was inflation because of the economic policies to deal with Covid or just how the govts dealt with Covid, seems to have this effect that is 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,” the Facebook founder had said.
The minister pointed out that the Modi govt won a third term in the elections conducted in 2024. “As the world’s largest democracy, India conducted the 2024 elections with more than 640 million voters. People of India reaffirmed their trust in NDA led by PM Narendra Modi’s leadership.”
He said the win in elections reaffirmed the faith of citizens in the govt which rolled out food and vaccine programmes to tide over the Covid period. “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 third-term victory is a testament to good governance and public trust.”
The censure of Zuckerberg’s statement comes as the company scrapped its US fact-checking programme on Jan 7 and reduced curbs on discussions around contentious topics such as immigration and gender identity, bowing to criticism from conservatives as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office for a second time.
“We’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship. It’s time to get back to our roots around free expression,” Zuckerberg had said in a video.
In place of a formal fact-checking programme to address dubious claims posted on Meta’s platforms, Zuckerberg instead plans to implement a system of “community notes” similar to that used on Elon Musk-owned social media platform X.
