Malaysia Condemns Meta Actions To Remove Photos Of Anwar Meeting And Hamas Leader Haniyeh

Photo notification of content uploading on Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim @anwaribrahim_my's Instagram account uploaded to the Malaysian PMO/Facebook PMO Malaysia Facebook account

JAKARTA - The Malaysian Prime Minister's Office (PMO) condemned the action of Meta Platform (Meta), which once again lowered the photo upload on Instagram of Anwar Ibrahim's Prime Minister (PM) meeting with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar, in May 2024.

The Media and Strategic Communication Division of the Malaysian Prime Minister's Office said the action turned out to show discrimination against the situation in Palestine and the country's leaders.

Malaysian PMO in its statement demanded an explanation regarding it, and urged Meta to apologize.

PM Anwar Ibrahim met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar last May and photos of the meeting were shared through his social media accounts, one of which was on Instagram.

In a different post he said the meeting in May was to help find a peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Anwar said he took the opportunity to appeal to Ismail Haniyeh to heed the calls for peace, accept two-state solutions to the Israeli and Palestinian conflicts, and make exchanges of prisoners.

Anwar said Malaysia appreciates Hamas' willingness to release prisoners, especially children and women, release all detainees and approve the peace plan.

Hamas announced on Wednesday morning Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli airstrike at his residence in the Iranian capital Tehran.

Iranian state television also reported Haniyeh's death, stating that an investigation into the killing was ongoing and the results would soon be announced.