Facebook says it has taken down a post by Ethiopia’s prime minister Abiy Ahmed for inciting violence, according to the company’s policies, Njenje Media News reports.
Mr. Abiy Ahmed called on citizens to take up arms to stop the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front from advancing.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front has been fighting government forces for a year and has recently taken control of key towns.
Facebook has been criticised for failing to do more to prevent the incitement of violence on its platform.
Mr Abiy wrote in the post that the rebel advance was “pushing the country to its demise,” and he urged citizens to “organize and march in a legal manner with every weapon and power to prevent, reverse, and bury the terrorist TPLF.”
A spokesperson for Facebook, whose parent company recently rebranded to Meta, said “We were made aware of a post by Ethiopia’s Prime Minister and removed this for violating our policies against inciting and supporting violence.
“At Meta, we remove content from individuals or organizations that violates our Community Standards, no matter who they are.” it added.
The United Nations said thousands of people have been killed by the conflict in Ethiopia, millions more have been displaced and hundreds of thousands are facing famine conditions.
