PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is seeking a full explanation from Meta Platforms Inc (Meta) for removing postings from the Prime Minister’s social media platform that featured a conversation between Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Hamas leaders, says Fahmi Fadzil.
“The government regrets the action taken by Meta.
“I have requested an explanation from Meta as to why the post or content uploaded on the official account of the Prime Minister was targeted.
“At this moment, there are several possibilities, including it being taken down automatically by the media platform itself or as a result of public complaints.
“So far, we have not yet received a full explanation, and we are awaiting a response from Meta,” the government’s spokesman said during the weekly post-Cabinet press conference here on Thursday (Aug 1).
A check on the Prime Minister’s Instagram account revealed that three of his posts from the previous day, which condemned the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh and shared pictures of meetings with the Hamas leader, had been removed from the social media platform.
The removal of these posts was accompanied by the caption “Dangerous individuals and organisations.”
On Wednesday (July 31), the Prime Minister’s Office condemned Meta’s action of removing the pictures of Anwar’s meeting with Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, from Instagram.
On May 14, the Prime Minister had shared pictures of his meeting with Hamas leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh, on his official social media, but Meta had subsequently removed the posts.
Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said that Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Facebook post offering condolences on Haniyeh’s assassination had also been taken down by Meta.
Aside from that, Fahmi, who is also the Communications Minister, said a posting made by Bernama Radio was also taken down.
“If any of our media colleagues have experienced the same issue, please inform the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) so that efforts can be made to restore the posting,” he added.
“I would like to emphasise here that each social media platform has their own community guidelines or standard guidelines, and they may have acted based on those guidelines in taking down or restricting content.
“God-willing, we will wait for an explanation from Meta,” added Fahmi.
