Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, issued an apology on Tuesday for removing social media posts by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim regarding the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

The apology came after Anwar’s office summoned Meta representatives to explain why the Prime Minister's posts about Haniyeh’s death were taken down. Meta attributed the removal to an operational error and confirmed that the content has been restored with a newsworthy label.

"We apologize for an operational error where content from the Prime Minister’s Facebook and Instagram Pages were removed," Meta stated. "The content has since been restored with the correct newsworthy label."

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is a leading technology giant known for its social media platforms that connect billions of people worldwide.

Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian armed group Hamas, was killed in an attack in Tehran on Wednesday, an act attributed to Israel, though Israel has not officially commented on the incident. Anwar's posts included a video of him expressing condolences to a Hamas official over the phone.

On Instagram, Meta noted that the posts were initially removed due to associations with "dangerous individuals and organizations." Anwar’s office criticized this action as a "blatant suppression of free expression" and demanded an apology.

Anwar previously accused Meta of "cowardice" for removing his posts. The Prime Minister has defended Malaysia’s relations with Hamas, emphasizing that their interactions are with Hamas' political wing, not its military arm. This distinction was reiterated during Anwar's visit to Germany in March.

Israel, the United States, and the European Union classify Hamas as a terrorist organization. Despite this, Anwar maintains Malaysia's diplomatic stance with the group, which conducted a deadly attack on Israel on October 7, sparking the Gaza conflict.

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