Posts published by an independent online news outlet in Solomon Islands have been reportedly blocked temporarily after incorrectly labeling its content as “Spam”

A member of the center of non-profit OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project), was informed by the platform that over 80 posts had been removed from its official page.

OCCRP claims that the organization believes the “coordinated campaign” may be the work of those who oppose independent media in the nation.

“The reporters in Solomon Islands became aware of the problem on Thursday afternoon, when the platform informed them it had hidden at least 86 posts, including stories and photos,” OCCRP stated on Friday.

“Defining its posts as spam resulted in the removal for several hours of what appeared to be everything the news organisation had posted on Facebook since March last year.”

According to the statement, the platform has prohibited users from sharing content from the outlet’s website, indepthsolomons.com.sb, on the grounds that doing so violates the community standards of the platform.

The Solomon Islands government and its allies have criticized In-Depth Solomons for its reporting, both online and in local media, according to OCCRP.

It released an exposé in April on the country’s former prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, and his mysterious wealth.

The removal of the content “may have been the result of a coordinated campaign by critics of his newsroom to file false complaints to Facebook en masse,” according to Ofani Eremae, editor of In-Depth Solomons.

He was cited as saying, “We firmly believe we have been targeted for the journalism we are doing here in the Solomon Islands.”

“We don’t have any evidence at this stage on who did this to us, but we think people or organisations who do not want to see independent reporting in this country may be behind this.”

Ben Cheong, a Meta representative, informed OCCRP that further time was required to investigate the matter.