Parliamentary panel to summon Meta over Zuckerberg’s recent remark on Lok Sabha polls

Dr Nishikant Dubey who is heading committee on Communications and Information Technology on Tuesday said that the parliamentary panel will summon tech-giant Meta for recent comment by its CEO Mark Zuckerberg on 18th Lok Sabha polls. “My committee will call @Meta for this wrong information. Wrong information in any democratic country tarnishes the image of the country. That organization will have to apologize to the Indian Parliament and the people here for this mistake,” said Dr Nishikant Dubey, Chairman, Committee on Communications and Information Technology.

Previously, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw responded to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s statement on Monday for making a “factually incorrect” statement that the incumbent government in India lost the election in 2024 due to its handling of Covid-19.

Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, triggered a row by claiming in a podcast interview that the Indian government lost the election in 2024 due to its weak Covid response. Vaishnaw opted for Meta’s Facebook platform to call out Zuckerberg for spreading “misinformation”. “It is disappointing to see misinformation from Zuckerberg himself. Let’s uphold facts and credibility,” the Union I&B minister said, tagging Meta on X and other social media platforms.

Appearing on the Joe Rogan podcast, Zuckerberg said 2024 was big election year around the world and in a lot of nations like India, the incumbents lost the polls.

“There is some sort of global phenomena, whether it was inflation because of the economic policies to deal with Covid or just how the governments 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 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 3rd-term victory is a testament to good governance and public trust,” minister Vaishnaw said.Vaishnaw said as the world’s largest democracy, India conducted the 2024 general election involving more than 640 million (64 crore) voters.

(more to come)