The infographic was part of a post concerning Zuckerberg’s ambitious plans to bring his Internet.org project to the world, and controversy arose after Indians noticed that the map of their country did not include the Jammu Kashmir province.
Zuckerberg’s update ignites debate on Facebook
Zuckerberg stepped into an ongoing political crisis when he omitted the disputed Kashmir province from the map. It is unclear whether he intended to make a political statement or whether it was an innocent mistake.
The Facebook CEO used his post to inform readers that “Internet.org is now available to more than 1 billion people around the world.” However, in India at least, the news was overshadowed by what many saw as an incorrect map of the country.
Sharp-eyed Indians were not slow in pointing out what they saw as a glaring omission. Akhil Dev almost immediately left a comment imploring Zuckerberg to “correct the Indian map on this picture, Kashmir is missing.”
Another user known as Manish Kaishav claimed that a “correction will gain our continues (sic) support to you.” Vivin Varghese Meleadan took matters into his own hands and corrected the image before sharing it in the comment section below the original post.
Mark Zuckerberg made the worst mistake a publisher can make in India: He posted the wrong map. http://t.co/o325vF1SHi
— Galen Moore (@galenmoore) May 14, 2015
Okay Mark Zuckerberg Interesting. Where is the northern head of India, known as Kashmir? Are you trying to make a… http://t.co/yDGiK5pAFJ
— Nithin Suren (@nithinsuren) May 14, 2015
Varying responses to infographic
However not all of the comments agreed that the map was wrong. A user called Amol Swift explained why the map may have omitted Kashmir, stating: “Kashmir is a part which is not completely controlled by our Government. This map shows India with only its parts being controlled by the Government perhaps thats why there isnt any Kashmir in it.”
Despite his appeal to logic, other Indians decided to propose a more drastic course of action. “Correct India’s map – Kashmir is missing. Don’t need your free internet. All Indians log off Facebook if the map is not corrected. This is absolute lack of sensitiveness,” said SK Rao, apparently proposing a boycott of the social network.
Zuckerberg certainly managed to draw the ire of Indians with the post, and at the time of writing has made no correction to the map of India.
