‘Disappointing…’: Ashwini Vaishnaw slams Mark Zuckerberg for his 2024 election speech
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday slammed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for his comments that many incumbent governments are losing every election in 2024. Vaishnaw took to the microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) to express his dismay at the Facebook founder’s comments that appeared in the podcast. Stating categorically that Zuckerberg’s statement was “absolutely wrong”, Vaishnaw said that the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party led by the National Democratic Alliance in the 2024 general elections in India was not only “decisive” but also demonstrated strong governance and public trust.
The minister’s remarks followed Zuckerberg’s speech expressing his view that there is a global decline in trust in governments following the COVID-19 pandemic. It is reported that Zuckerberg said that in the last elections in different parts of the world last year, most of the governments that were in power, including that of India, lost power.
“As the world’s largest democracy, India is holding elections in 2024 with over 640 million voters. People of India have reaffirmed their faith in the NDA led by the leadership of PM @narendramodi Ji,” Vaishnaw wrote.
Highlighting the many achievements under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the minister wrote: “From 800 million free meals, 2.2 billion free vaccines, and aid to nations around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic, to leading India as the fastest growing economy, Prime Minister’s Victory Modi’s third term is a testament to good governance and public trust.”
“Disappointing to see false information from Mr. Zuckerberg himself. Let’s uphold facts and honesty,” wrote Vaishnaw, tagging Meta.
As the world’s largest democracy, India is holding elections in 2024 with more than 640 million voters. The people of India have reconfirmed their trust in the NDA led by the Prime Minister @narendramodi Ji’s leadership.
The claim of Mr. Zuckerberg that many ruling governments, including India in the 2024 election,…
– Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) January 13, 2025
The minister’s speech caused a furious reaction from netizens on X.
However, Zuckerberg’s verified X handle, which is often inactive, showed no response. In addition, the CEO of Meta remained silent on Facebook, where he works from time to time.
