The Malaysian government summoned Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to its Prime Minister’s Office ( PMO ) on Monday ( Aug 5 ) over the removal of several posts where PM Anwar Ibrahim had condolenced and praised the late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Additionally, it raised the expulsion of a live Facebook telecast of a pro-Palestinian protest held on Sunday evening in Kuala Lumpur via the Malay state broadcaster’s accounts.
In a statement on Monday, Malaysia’s PMO said it has also demanded an apology from the software company even as it wants some actions to be taken to rectify the situation, adding that it views Meta’s activities as “discriminatory, wrong, and a overt reduction of free manifestation”.
The statement read,” It is also perceived as an anathema to the legitimate battle of the Arab people for individual rights.”
We also made it clear that the Zionist Israeli regime’s treatment of these articles has had a profound impact on Malaysians and the rest of the world, who are well informed of the suffering of the Arab people and the crimes committed by the Zionist program.
It stressed that Meta’s “unilateral selection” to delete the articles on Mr Anwar’s balances raises questions about the clarity of the fund’s content moderation policies.  ,
Although it was not disclosed who had represented Meta, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Chairman Mohamad Salim Fateh Din and Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil were present at the meeting.  ,
Mr. Anwar had written tributes to the late Mr. Haniyeh in his deleted social media posts, calling him” a dear friend and a brave advocate of his people.”  ,
According to reports, the messages that had the tag “dangerous individuals and organizations” were taken down.
Mr Haniyeh- who had been based in Qatar’s Doha since 2019- was killed in Iran’s money Tehran on Jul 31.  ,
He was there to go Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian’s swearing-in meeting a moment earlier.  ,
Social also removed some posts from the May media about Mr. Anwar’s highly anticipated media meeting with Mr. Haniyeh in Qatar, which were afterwards corrected.  ,
Malaysia’s PMO furthermore expressed concern over the Berita RTM account’s suspension of the live Twitter spread of the Arab Liberation Rally the night before on Monday.
The Indonesian government organized the rally in support of the Arab cause at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, which attracted thousands of people. Free-to-air Malay television news network Berita RTM, owned and run by Radio Televisyen Malaysia, hosted the live-streaming event.
” As a result, the Prime Minister’s Office has demanded some steps, including a detailed description of Meta’s decisions to solve the problem, along with a public apologies from the business. As promised during the meeting, Meta will be issuing a press speech shortly”, read the statement.  ,
As of the time of writing, Meta has yet to challenge any statement.  ,