About two months ago, you might’ve seen a viral video about how well Malaysia is handling the Covid-19 outbreak. The three-minute video was made by an international dental surgeon and traveller, Dr Dustin Pfundheller, who praised Malaysia by demonstrating the various ways our country dealt with the increasing number of infections and how Malaysians worked together to flatten the curve.
The video was uploaded on Pfundheller’s Facebook page called “Other Side of the Truth” on 18 May, but it seems Facebook thinks the video promotes “false, misleading and deceptive claims”.
In another video that was uploaded on his YouTube channel on 6 July, Pfundheller explains that his viral video had garnered more than 3.2 million views, but Facebook is now blocking the video’s organic reach and ads on the page without any explanation.
In the four-minute video, he questions Facebook’s move and explains how he had backed his facts up with many sources.
“Facebook says that my Malaysian video, the best video I’ve ever made promotes false, misleading and deceptive claims,” he says in the video.
“Not only did I use accurate facts and source many of the areas where I got the information, but I also had 30 YouTubers do fact checks on it and review the video – and the only thing I found out from their reviews was that there were (more) things I should have included that Malaysia had done – like giving free Internet.”
“This is frustrating, because a country like Malaysia often gets ignored. When you look at countries that did amazing fighting Covid-19, it’s all about Western countries or maybe Taiwan, but a country like Malaysia is completely off the map.”
Pfundheller then goes on to explain that he had “worked really hard to give Malaysia the justice they deserve”.
“Facebook, which is supposed to be for the people, is not for the Malaysian people.”
“So no wonder a place like Malaysia is ignored because when somebody actually does a story and shows the great things about Malaysia, it’s called false and Facebook blocks organic reach and blocks ads.”
He then goes on to explain that Facebook does not have an email or phone number that he can contact and has given no explanation on why they think his video is false and misleading. He adds that Facebook even has an office in Malaysia.
Pfundheller then calls for anyone working with Facebook to ask the social media platform to look at his video and tell him what is misleading about it and what he should do differently to avoid further false perceptions on his video.
“I think with an organisation as huge as Facebook, it’s important that they treat all people, creators and countries equally,” he says at the end of the video.
Here’s the video:
Also read: Malaysia Goes Viral After International Dental Surgeon Praises How We’re Fighting Covid-19
