Facebook CEO Zuckerberg Supports Digital India Ahead of Q&A With PM Modi

Speaking at Facebook’s campus in Menlo Park, Mr Modi said:

“The strength of social media today is that it can tell governments where they are wrong and can stop them from moving in the wrong direction.”

“We used to have elections every five years and now we can have them every five minutes.”

He also added.

At the 50-minute event, both men became expressive. Modi told the audience women were vital to the future of his country, and was almost crying when he discussed his mother’s role in his life. She had worked really hard when he was young to meet the needs of life.

Zuckerberg told Modi about an incident several years ago, when Facebook “wasn’t doing so well”. The late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, he said, urged him to take a spiritual trip to India and visit a temple.

Zuckerberg said, the journey cleared his head and helped reassure Facebook’s mission to connect billions of people around the world. Modi and Zuckerberg’s conversation turned, inevitably, toward economics and the role of the internet and technology in India. That was why many of the Facebook workers present showed up.

“I am personally impressed by the way PM Modi has used social media to connect with [the] people of India, be it women’s issues or to spread messages of peace.”

Zuckerberg said.

Here is video of Q&A session between Modi and Zuckerberg:

Addressing an audience of around 1,000, Modi said:

“India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world today. My dream is to become a $20tn economy. India at this point needs both physical and digital infrastructure.”

Modi said social media had first been a personal interest and he had not expected to become prime minister when he started using Twitter and Facebook, platforms on which he now has tens of millions of followers.

Zuckerberg wrote:

“I changed my profile picture to support Digital India, the Indian government’s effort to connect rural communities to the internet and give people access to more services online. Looking forward to discussing this with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Facebook .”

Modi also changed his Facebook profile picture like that of Zuckerberg’s.

“Thanks Mark Zuckerberg for the support. I changed my DP in support of the efforts towards a Digital India.”

Modi wrote in a post on Facebook.

What is Digital India?