Meta, the tech behemoth led by Mark Zuckerberg, apologized over false comments made by its CEO about the result of India’s 2024 elections. Shivnath Thukral, Meta India’s Vice President, posted an apology on X (formerly Twitter), terming it as a “technical error.” Thukral also spoke about India being important to the company and reminded everyone that Meta is part of India’s innovation journey.

The apology has come after intense criticism from Indian political leaders. The controversy had started after Zuckerberg, in a podcast discussing global trends in governance post-COVID, said that 2024 was the year of a loss of trust across the world for governments. He had also indicated that most the incumbent governments were voted out in this period, including India’s. 2024 was a big election year around the world, and in countries like India, incumbents basically lost every single one,” Zuckerberg said.
These remarks sparked immediate reactions from Indian leaders as they go against the result of the 2024 Indian elections. In fact, the 2024 Indian elections recorded a thumping victory for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Over 640 million voters cast their ballots, making the results affirm public confidence in the ruling government, which was a direct contradiction to Zuckerberg’s assertions.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was one of the first to respond to the misinformation, terming Zuckerberg’s statements as “disappointing” and factually incorrect. Vaishnaw pointed out the robust democratic process of the Indian elections and underlined that the people of India had unequivocally reaffirmed their faith in the NDA government.
Adding to the backlash, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who heads the parliamentary committee on communications and information technology, stated that Meta will be called to account. Such misinformation hurts the democratic image of India, he said, demanding an official apology to the Indian Parliament and citizens. “My committee will call Meta for this misinformation. Misinformation does any democratic country an injustice,” wrote Dubey on X.
Thukral responded to the backlash by issuing a public apology, distancing the company from the misstatement. “Mark’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 apologize for this inadvertent error,” Thukral said in his post. He further emphasized that India remains an incredibly important market for Meta, reflecting the company’s intent to maintain a positive relationship with the country.
Such controversy brings out the sensitive nature of global political commentary, especially when it involves large democracies like India. Zuckerberg’s remarks have sparked a larger conversation about the responsibility of global leaders and corporations in ensuring factual accuracy, particularly in matters of public governance and electoral outcomes.
At the same time that Meta faces a parliamentary summons and increased scrutiny in India, this incident reminds the public of the kind of power that multinational corporations and their leaders command—and the kind of accountability they owe to a global audience.
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