KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 2): The decision to remove Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s social media posts relating to the assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh was probably done by those at the higher level at Meta Platforms Inc, and not by the team in Southeast Asia, according to Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
He said that in a series of discussions he had with the management of Meta at the Southeast Asian level, they hinted that they were not the ones who removed the prime minister’s posts from Facebook and Instagram.
“There is a possibility that it was a higher-level decision. The Meta team in the region was also confused as to why it happened, so I don't blame them, because this was not an action on their part. We are waiting for further explanation.
“I was made to understand that a Meta delegation will come to Kuala Lumpur next week to explain the matter, so we will give them [time] until then,” Fahmi told reporters after joining the prime minister and some 3,000 congregants in performing Friday prayers and absentee funeral prayers for Haniyeh at Masjid Negara here on Friday.
Also present were Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar, and Chief of Defence Forces General Tan Sri Mohammad Ab Rahman.
Elaborating, Fahmi said the removal of social media posts by Meta, like what happened to the prime minister, should not have happened to anybody.
“It’s quite funny because the US is talking about freedom of expression and freedom of speech. In Meta’s case, I think they really have to practise what they preach. Otherwise, it’s just hypocrisy,” he said.
Haniyeh, formerly the prime minister of Palestine, was reported to have been killed in an airstrike that targeted his residence in Tehran, Iran, in the early hours of Wednesday.
He was there to attend the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
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