Meta takes down Asif Mahmud’s official Facebook page

Meta has removed the verified Facebook page of Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, who recently stepped down from his role as an advisor to the interim government to contest the upcoming general election.

In a post on his personal Facebook account on Friday, Asif said that his official page, which had more than three million followers, had been taken down. He shared a screenshot showing the page had been “removed”.

He alleged the action followed coordinated mass reporting of content related to Sharif Osman bin Hadi, a political activist who was fatally shot earlier this month.

"All posts and videos related to Osman Hadi were struck, and coordinated reporting led to my official page being removed,” Asif wrote.

 “Links were shared in various Telegram groups to organise mass reporting. All three videos I posted about [Hadi] were struck.”

Asif resigned ahead of schedule from his post as an advisor to the interim government’s Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development & Co-operatives and the Ministry of Youth and Sports to contest the upcoming general election.

A prominent figure during the July Uprising, he has been collecting nomination papers to run as an independent candidate in the Dhaka-10 constituency, which includes Dhanmondi, New Market, Kalabagan and Hazaribagh police station areas.

Hadi, an independent election hopeful in the Dhaka-8 constituency, was shot in the head while campaigning in the capital’s Bijoynagar on Dec 12. He later died during treatment in Singapore on Dec 18. His suspected attacker remains at large, although police say 10 people have so far been arrested in connection with the case.