Meta apologised on Tuesday for censoring Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s social media remarks following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The apology came a day after Anwar’s office called Meta representatives to investigate why the leader’s Facebook and Instagram posts about Haniyeh’s death were erased.
Meta is the parent firm of the two popular social media platforms.
“We apologise for an operational error where content from the Prime Minister’s Facebook and Instagram Pages were removed,” Meta said in a statement emailed to AFP.
“The content has since been restored with the correct newsworthy label.”
The political leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran on Wednesday in an attack claimed on Israel, which has not reacted explicitly.
Anwar’s posts featured a video of the premier on the phone with a Hamas official, expressing his sympathies.
Anwar shared Meta’s note on Instagram, which stated that the postings were removed due to their association with “dangerous individuals and organizations.”
Anwar’s office called Meta’s removal of the posts “a blatant suppression of free expression” and requested an apology from the tech titan.
Anwar last week accused the digital behemoth of “cowardice” for deleting his posts.
Israel, the United States, and the European Union consider Hamas a terrorist organization.
Anwar, who met Haniyeh in Qatar in May, has justified Malaysia’s relations with the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group that carried out a deadly strike on Israel on October 7, sparking the Gaza conflict.
During a March visit to Germany, Anwar made it clear that Malaysia’s ties were with Hamas’ political side, not its armed arm.