Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw publicly corrected tech mogul Mark Zuckerberg over a claim related to India’s 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Zuckerberg said that most ruling governments worldwide, including India, have lost elections after COVID-19. In a counter-response to Zuckerberg's statement, Vaishnaw stated the claims are "factually incorrect".

In a recent The Joe Rogan Experience podcast hosted by Joe Rogan, as a guest, Zuckerberg commented, "2024 was a big election year around the world. All these countries, like India, had elections. The incumbents lost every single one. There is some sort of a global phenomenon – whether it was because of inflation or the economic policies to deal with Covid or just how the governments dealt with it- seems to have had this global effect."

The Meta CEO also said, "There was a broad decrease in trust in incumbents and maybe in these democratic institutions overall ".

Zuckerberg's remarks, particularly mentioning India, drew a strong reaction from the government, with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw calling him out on false claims that the government led by Prime Minister Modi had lost the 2024 elections.

Vaishnaw underscored the factual inaccuracy of Zuckerberg's statement, saying, "As the world's largest democracy, India conducted the 2024 elections with over 640 million voters. The people of India have reaffirmed their trust in the NDA led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr Zuckerberg's claim that most incumbent governments, including India, lost the 2024 elections in the post-COVID era is factually incorrect."

Vaishnaw noted that the National Democratic Alliance won a decisive victory in the 2024 elections, coming to power for a third consecutive term. He spoke about government measures during the epidemic, including free food distribution to 800 million people, free vaccinations for 2.2 billion, and international aid, as examples of successful governance.

The Union Minister was particularly disappointed that Meta's CEO shared disinformation. "Meta, it’s disappointing to see misinformation from Mr. Zuckerberg himself. Let’s uphold facts and credibility," Ashwini Vaishnaw posted on X.