Modi to Sandberg: Facebook can be governance tool

Modi says he wants to explore ways to use Facebook as a tool for marketing India as a tourist destination

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday discussed with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg about possible ways to use social media platforms for better governance.

Modi, the most followed political figure on Facebook after US President Barack Obama, with 19 million followers, said in a post: “Being an avid user of social media myself, I talked about ways through which a platform such as Facebook could be used for governance and better interaction between the people and government.”

Modi said he wanted to explore ways to use Facebook as a tool for marketing India as a tourist destination. “Had a very fruitful meeting with Sandberg. She said India was a very important country for Facebook, given the high number of active users,” Modi wrote.

Sandberg, on a five-day visit to India, has been talking about partnerships with the government, corporations and non-government organisations, as part of Facebook’s aim to connect the next billion in the country. “He (Modi) told us how he believes that direct communication with people all over the world is critical for effective governance and he plans to continue using Facebook and other social media platforms to communicate with the people of India and the world,” Sandberg wrote on her Facebook page after the meeting.

“Digital diplomacy can change our national and international dialogues and that is why he (Modi) plans to champion the free and open internet on the world stage,” she added.