Meta apologised on Tuesday for mistakenly removing prime minister Anwar Ibrahim’s social media posts in which he expressed condolences to a Hamas official about the assassination of the group’s leader Ismail Haniyeh. In a statement to Reuters, the company says the deletion resulted from “an operational error”, adding that the content had been restored with “the correct newsworthy label”.
To bring you up to speed, Anwar posted on Facebook and Instagram on 31 July a video recording of his phone call with a Hamas official, offering condolences over Haniyeh’s death. He also posted a picture from his last meeting with Haniyeh in Qatar in May, along with a condolence message. The removal of the prime minister’s posts on Facebook and Instagram prompted the government to approach Meta for an explanation.
The U.S. social media giant classifies Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement governing Gaza, as a “dangerous organisation” and prohibits content that praises the group. Meta employs a combination of automated detection and human review to remove or label graphic visuals.
This incident marks the second run-in between Meta and the Malaysian government, which called the takedown of the posts unjust, discriminatory and a suppression of free speech. Previously, in May, the social media giant restored Facebook posts by Anwar about his meeting with Haniyeh, acknowledging that they were removed in error.
(Source: Reuters)
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