Parliament panel to summon Meta over Mark Zuckerberg’s election remark

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Representation pic/iSTOCK

Seeking an apology from social media giant Meta for allegedly "tarnishing" India's image, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who heads the Parliament's Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, said on Tuesday that the panel will summon the firm following its chairman's comments that India's ruling dispensation lost the Lok Sabha election last year.

"My committee will summon Meta for this incorrect information. Incorrect information about any democratic country tarnishes its image. This organisation will have to apologise to the Indian Parliament and the people here for this mistake," Dubey said in a post on X.

He was reacting to Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw's criticism of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, who owns the controlling stake in the Meta group of companies, for making a "factually incorrect" statement that the incumbent government in India lost the election in 2024 over issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It is disappointing to see misinformation from Mr Zuckerberg himself. Let's uphold facts and credibility," Vaishnaw said, tagging Meta on X and other social media platforms. Appearing on the Joe Rogan podcast, Zuckerberg had said that 2024 was the big election year around the world and in a lot of countries like India, the incumbents lost the polls.

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