Prime Minister Netanyahu phoned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg today to complain that the social media giant was taking action against his supporters in Israel’s recent elections, the Haaretz daily reports.
Citing sources familiar with the phone call, the newspaper says Netanyahu called Zuckerberg to ask he ensure the fairness of the election and to act reasonably and fairly.
The report says Zuckerberg did not directly address Netanyahu’s claims but said the company would be alert to the matter.
“We constantly speak to leaders all around the world and Mark reiterated that we are an open platform for all ideas,” a Facebook spokesperson says in response.
Days before last September’s elections, Facebook temporarily suspended a chatbot operated by Netanyahu’s official account for saying Arab Israeli lawmakers “want to annihilate us all,” a violation of its hate speech policies.
On election day, Facebook again briefly suspended the chatbot for publishing polling information in violation of Israeli election law.
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