Malaysian PM slams Meta for removing post; spotlight now on platform's Hamas censorship history

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim accused social media giant Meta of cowardice after his Facebook post regarding the assassination of Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was removed.

Anwar’s post, which included a video recording of his phone call with a Hamas official offering condolences over Haniyeh’s death, was allegedly taken down by Meta.

“Let this serve as a clear and unequivocal message to Meta: Cease this display of cowardice,” he posted on his Facebook page after the post was taken down.

Anwar, who had previously met Haniyeh in Qatar, maintains that while he has strong relations with Hamas’s political leadership, he has no ties to the group’s military operations.

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Meta’s history of censorship

Muslim-majority Malaysia, a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, has frequently found itself at odds with Meta’s content moderation policies.

A couple of months ago, on May 15, Malaysia’s communications minister Fahmi Fadzil expressed outrage at Meta for removing Facebook posts by local media covering Anwar’s meeting with Haniyeh in Qatar.

At that time, Meta restored the content a day later, stating that the removal had been in error.

However, such so-called errors appear to be a pattern. Meta, which designates Hamas as a “dangerous organisation,” employs a combination of automated systems and human review to remove or label content that praises or supports such groups.

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This happens beyond Malaysia as well. Between October and November 2023, Human Rights Watch documented over 1,050 instances where non-violent content supporting Palestinians was suppressed on Instagram and Facebook, while only one case involved content supporting Israel. This disproportionate removal of pro-Palestinian content has led to accusations of bias and undue censorship.

Regarding Anwar’s post, which came into media spotlight on Thursday (August 1), Malaysia’s Communications Minister sought an explanation from Meta, expressing uncertainty over whether the posts were automatically removed or taken down following a complaint.

Implications for freedom of expression

The Malaysian government’s repeated run-ins with Meta points towards a bigger concern: the influence of social media companies in shaping political discourse and controlling narratives on sensitive geopolitical issues.

There is a delicate balance Meta must strike between enforcing its policies and respecting freedom of expression. So far, it seems to be struggling.

As Malaysia continues to advocate for the Palestinian cause, the friction with Meta over content removal is likely to persist.

With inputs from Reuters