Meta Apologizes for Removing Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim’s Posts on Hamas Leader’s Assassination

Tech giant Meta issued an apology on Tuesday for removing social media posts by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim regarding the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The apology followed a summons from Anwar’s office, which demanded an explanation for the removal of the Prime Minister’s Facebook and Instagram posts about Haniyeh’s death.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, acknowledged the error in a statement emailed to AFP. “We apologise for an operational error where content from the Prime Minister’s Facebook and Instagram Pages were removed,” the statement read. “The content has since been restored with the correct newsworthy label.”

Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian armed group Hamas, was killed in Tehran on Wednesday in an attack attributed to Israel, which has not directly commented on the incident. Anwar’s posts featured a video of him on a phone call with a Hamas official, offering his condolences.

Meta’s initial removal of the posts was accompanied by a note on Instagram, shared by Anwar, indicating the posts were taken down due to association with “dangerous individuals and organisations.” Anwar’s office condemned the removal as “a blatant suppression of free expression” and demanded an apology from the tech company.

Meta’s swift response and restoration of the content underline the importance of accurate content management and the challenges faced by social media platforms in handling sensitive political issues.