Food For Gaza Instagram Blocks Fundraising Event S Account

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Meta’s Instagram has taken down an account that is being used to promote a charity football match slated to be held in Shah Alam on Saturday.
The match, which is being organised by singer-songwriter Yuna and several others, is meant to help raise funds for Karisma Humanitarian Outreach Mission to send food parcels to families in Gaza.
Users attempting to access the @freedomfootballkl Instagram account would be greeted with the message: “Sorry, this page isn’t available. The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed.”
“I can’t say that I’m surprised. I won’t even be surprised if my followers can’t see this post,” Yuna said on her own Instagram account.
“We’ve had a lot of challenges putting together this small event (completely grassroots and independent), from Instagram disabling our account and sponsors not wanting to work with us, but we won’t give up,” she said.
She has also submitted a screenshot indicating that she has appealed against Instagram’s move.
‘Undue removal’
Meta - which also owns Facebook, WhatsApp, and other services - has come under increased scrutiny over its content moderation policies since the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated on Oct 7 last year.
In December last year, the international NGO Human Rights Watch published a 51-page report detailing instances of “undue removal” of pro-Palestinian content including peaceful expression of support for Palestine and public debates about Palestinian human rights.
“Human Rights Watch found that the problem stems from flawed Meta policies and their inconsistent and erroneous implementation, over-reliance on automated tools to moderate content, and undue government influence over content removals,” it said.
More recently, it drew ire from Malaysian authorities after it removed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s posts on Facebook and Instagram condemning the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh.

Meta has since reinstated Anwar’s posts and apologised for what it described as an “operational error”. The reinstated posts now include a note stating that they violate Meta’s community guidelines but are left there for “public awareness”.

A T-shirt displaying the charity football matchYuna said the upcoming fundraiser has already been fully booked and participants should expect an email containing more information about the event.
“I wish it was as simple as sharing a post but alas! So keep an eye out for our email,” she said. - Mkini

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