Meta’s Oversight Board’s request on Thursday called for the suspension of the prime minister of Cambodia Hun Sen for six months.
The board demanded his suspension on the grounds that a video he had posted to his Facebook page had breached Meta’s policies against making violent threats.
The board found that Hun Sen threatened to beat up political opponents and sent “gangsters” to their homes in a video that was posted on his official Facebook page in January.
The board, which is supported by Meta but runs independently, declared the corporation made a mistake by putting the video up and demanded that it be taken down from Facebook.
In a written statement, Meta agreed to remove the video but stated that it will address the suggestion to suspend Hun Sen following an investigation.
Less than a month before elections in Cambodia, which critics claim would be a sham owing to Hun Sen’s dictatorial rule, a suspension would silence the prime minister’s Facebook page.
The ruling is the latest in a string of criticisms the Oversight Board has levelled at the largest social media firm in the world for its treatment of political figures who break the law and promote violence during elections.
The board approved Meta’s 2021 suspension of former U.S. President Donald Trump, the current front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, as a result of the deadly Capitol Hill riot on January 6, but it criticised the suspension’s indefinite nature and recommended better general preparation for tense political situations.
The former American president’s account was restored by Meta earlier this year.