PUTRAJAYA, Oct 1 — Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said today that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has denied allegations that it took down any Malaysiakini Facebook pages.
He added that the social media giant also refuted the news portal’s claims that hundreds of accounts were involved in “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” (CIB) linked to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Facebook page.
“First, Meta confirmed to me that they did not take down any pages, including Malaysiakini’s.
“Second, they said the allegation that 263 accounts were CIB is not true. That was based on an analysis by their special team that investigates CIB,” Fahmi told a press conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting here.
CIB typically involves organised effort by multiple fake or deceptive online accounts, often controlled by the same actors, to mislead people by pretending to be genuine individuals or entities.
These accounts work together in a coordinated way to amplify certain messages, manipulate public opinion, spread disinformation, or push political and social agendas.
Fahmi, who is also the government spokesman, added that neither his ministry nor the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had received or filed any complaints regarding the matter.
He said his contact at Meta Singapore also confirmed that no one from Malaysiakini had reached out to them about the alleged takedown.
“I don’t think Meta would lie,” Fahmi said.
“They, too, were rather puzzled as to how the initial information reached Malaysiakini in the first place.”
This official denial comes a day after Malaysiakini reported that its English-language Facebook page and the personal account of at least one of its administrators had been suspended.
The news portal claimed it had received a notice from Meta stating the suspension was due to alleged violations of its community guidelines on cybersecurity.
