There has been great anxiety in the legacy and social media platforms especially in the left leaning media following the decisive election victory of Donald Trump. While many of them have doubled down on their tirade against Trump, some like Mark Zuckerberg are finding themselves in hot waters globally.
Although the Meta founder Zuckerberg has been attempting to get in the good graces of the Republican party his recent theatrics on a podcast have landed him in considerable trouble. In the podcast Zuckerberg had falsely claimed that the ruling party in India had lost the elections, a complete factual fallacy. The government of India has since asked Zuckerberg to apologize for the same.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, in India had informed through X that Mark Zuckerberg would have to apologise for his recent remarks on the false remarks regarding Indian election results.
Spreading Misinformation
Incidentally, the Meta co-founder recently appeared on a podcast with Joe Rogan where he made a misleading claim saying that the Indian Pm Narendra Modi led party “lost” the national polls due to its “weak Covid-19 response.” In an attempt to paint a broader perspective, Zuckerberg stressed that most incumbent governments worldwide, “including India”, were defeated in elections held post-Covid-19. However, his remarks were a blatant lie. The Narendra Modi led BJP party had been successful in forming the government for a historic third time.
Following his misleading remarks on the electoral results, Ashwini Vaishnaw a minister in the Union government has called the remarks “factually incorrect” and has fact-checked Zuckerberg. The Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Vaishnaw wrote on Meta-owned Facebook, “It is disappointing to see misinformation from Mr Zuckerberg himself. Let’s uphold facts and credibility.”
Vaishnaw highlighted the fact that the BJP secured victory and formed the government for the historic third term. He stated India conducted its 2024 general election with over 640 million voters adding that PM Modi-led NDA’s victory was a clear reflection of public confidence.
He further stated, “Zuckerberg’s claim that most incumbent governments, including India in the 2024 elections, lost post-Covid is factually incorrect.”
Additionally, the Union Minister also dispelled falsehoods about the Modi government’s weak response during the onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic. He mentioned several achievements of the Modi government including the distribution of free food to 800 million people, giving 2.2 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses, and aid extended to foreign nations.
Vaishnaw said, “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.”
Taking to X, Parliamentary panel Chief, Nishikant Dubey wrote, “My committee will call Meta for this disinformation. Misinformation in any democratic country tarnishes the image of the country. That organisation will have to apologise to the Indian Parliament and the people here for this mistake.”
Meta’s Response
Zuckerberg now finds himself is in the docks for spreading misinformation that too about an entire nation. Having been summoned by India and asked to apologize for the same Meta has responded with a statement, “Mark Zuckerberg’s observation that many incumbent parties were not re-elected in the 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,” Shivnath Thukral, Meta India’s Vice President, tweeted.
Meta co founder Mark Zuckerberg has previously been extremely vocal about stopping misinformation on his platform and had consistently stressed the importance of the company’s moderation efforts. Meta launched its fact-checking program in 2016, following criticism that it had facilitated the spread of so-called fake news leading up to the presidential election.
Facebook, like many other tech platforms, had grown quickly in the past decade and has previously come under severe scrutiny for what it did to regulate the posting and recommendation of content in its increasingly influential News Feed. Zuckerberg had reacted quickly, instituting a variety of new roles and moderation processes meant to crack down on issues like harassment and misinformation. In this regard Zuckerberg has previously even called out Donald Trump for inciting the January 6th attacks, saying, “I believe that the former president should be responsible for his words.”
Meta had recently announced that it would be ending its fact-checking program and shifting policies around content moderation, a move that Zuckerberg said was inspired by Musk’s X. Zuckerberg, who once touted the importance of the company’s moderation efforts, echoed that worldview Tuesday when he said that times had changed and the new shift would reduce “censorship” and “restore free expression”.
However it should be kept in mind that this change of tone has occurred as soon as Donald Trump won the Presidential elections. Previously Zuckerberg has been extremely critical of Donald Trump, suspending his accounts and practically pushing his side of the narrative off his platform, labelling it as misinformation.
Now Zuckerberg is himself found spreading misinformation against the results of the democratically held elections in the worlds most populous country. It once again shows that although Zuckerberg has been forced into a more neutral stance to maintain his social media empire his natural tendency tilts against the conservative side of the narrative and this controversy proves it once again.
