Meta restores PM's posts with note they violate guidelines

Meta has restored deleted posts by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and other politicians on its platforms regarding slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

However, the restored posts include a note that they are still in violation of Meta’s community guidelines.

This is most notable on Instagram, where there is a clear notice stating “This post goes against our Community Guidelines but has been left on Instagram for public awareness”.

On Facebook, the notice is much smaller and simply states “This post is allowed for public awareness”.

Clicking the notice on Facebook then shows the message “In some cases, we allow content which would otherwise go against our Community Standards”.

On both Instagram and Facebook, clicking share on the flagged posts will give users a notice that the posts go against community standards and users will be asked if they want to proceed with sharing or not.

Meta, in an earlier statement, apologised for removing content from Anwar’s Facebook and Instagram pages, citing an “operational error”.

This followed a meeting in Putrajaya yesterday, in which the Prime Minister’s Office sternly rebuked Meta representatives over the incident.

The deleted posts were about Anwar meeting Ismail in May, and the prime minister condemning the killing of the Hamas leader last week.

Other politicians who had their posts on Ismail’s death removed were Perikatan Nasional chief Muhyiddin Yassin, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari, and Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Adam Adli Abu Bakar.

Checks by Malaysiakini found that their posts have also been restored by Meta with the same warning notes.

Ismail was killed at a guesthouse in Tehran, Iran on July 31.

Hamas blamed the killing on an Israeli raid, while the New York Times quoted sources in the Middle East and the US saying that the Hamas political bureau chief was killed by an Israeli bomb planted at the guesthouse months earlier.

Israel has not acknowledged or denied responsibility for Ismail’s death.

Putrajaya’s rebuke of Meta comes amid efforts to get social media platforms operating in Malaysia licensed by Jan 1 next year, after which operators of unlicensed platforms can be punished with fines and jail time.

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