KUALA LUMPUR: The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has demanded Meta to apologise for "censoring" Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's posts on slain Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh and the suspension of RTM's live broadcast of the Palestinian Liberation Rally on Facebook.
"The PMO views Meta's actions as discriminatory, unjust, and a blatant suppression of free expression. It is also seen as an affront to the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people in their pursuit of justice and human rights," it said in a statement.
This comes after PMO earlier summoned representatives of Meta to explain the removal of content related to Palestinian issues from Anwar's social media platforms.
According to sources, this includes content related to the assassination of Haniyeh, which was removed and blocked on platforms like the Prime Minister's Facebook and Instagram.
Present during the meeting were Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din.
During the meeting, PMO said it also emphasised that the removal of the posts had deeply impacted Malaysians and the global community, who are well aware of the suffering of the Palestinian people and the atrocities committed by the Zionist Israeli regime, as recorded in history.
Following this, PMO also demanded several actions, including a detailed explanation of Meta's decisions to rectify the matter, along with a public apology from the company.
"The unilateral decision to censor content without considering the context of the posts clearly raises questions about the transparency of Meta's content moderation policies.
"As promised during the meeting, Meta will also be issuing a press statement shortly."
Meta previously removed social media posts by Anwar over his condolences for Haniyeh's assassination.
The posts were removed on Instagram as it had "dangerous individuals and organisations", while a notification from Facebook said the Prime Minister's post was removed as it had elements that praised or supported people or organisations that had been defined as dangerous.