James Pearson

HANOI (Reuters: Facebook)’s parent firm said that Tuesday’s update unblocked Nusret Gokce‘s #saltbae hashtag. It was discovered the tag had been globally blocked days before a Gokce-style video in which he served a cut of steak encrusted with gold to a London senior member of the Vietnamese Communist Party.

A spokesperson for Facebook Operator Meta stated to Reuters that they had unblocked the hashtag on Facebook. He also confirmed the fact that the tag was blocked worldwide for users of Facebook, and not only in Vietnam.

Although it was unclear why the tag had been removed, the spokesperson did not comment. It was still blocked but a Google search for it brought up a message that said the community standards had been broken.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that artificial intelligence is a key part of “content moderation”, which involves the removal of more than 90% content found to violate Facebook guidelines.

This video was originally uploaded to Gokce’s TikTok account. It shows Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security To Lam being fed an Instagram-famous steak with gold leaf by the chef. The Instagram star is often seen theatrically seasoning and cutting meats at London’s restaurant. A steak can sell for as much as 1,450 Pounds ($1,960).

Lam (64) was present in Britain for a U.N. climate conference. Images of Lam chewing the gilded meat caused controversy both online and offline. Many wondered how such an important Party official could be captured on camera eating food with such high prices amid state corruption crackdowns.

Nguyen Lan Thang (a user with almost 150,000 followers) changed his profile photo to show a screen shot of the video. He also pointed out the silence from local media regarding the incident.

“Security Officers following this account. Have You seen the video of Minister To Lam eating salt-sprayed steak? How many months would it take to buy one steak? Thang’s post was the shortest.

It wasn’t clear who paid for it. It was unclear who paid for the meal. To Lam didn’t respond to our request for comment. Neither did Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry, which deals with foreign media inquiries.

Gokce deleted the original video from TikTok’s account soon after it had been uploaded. Reuters also learned that other copies of the same app were taken from Gokce’s TikTok accounts for violating “community standard”, which was confirmed by TikTok users in Vietnam.

TikTok, Gokce and others declined to comment.

A customer in a cafe in Northern Vietnam said that while it is not uncommon for a Vietnamese government official to have super-rich status, the sight of a minister opening his mouth and eating a steak was a sign of shame.

According to the World Bank, Vietnam has been classified as a country of lower middle income. Ministers in Vietnam are paid a monthly salary equivalent to 16 millions dong (705.47).

SHUT DOWN THE THREAT

Vietnam regularly asks social media firms to remove content that it considers “anti-state.” Vietnam threatened to close down Facebook last year if Facebook did not take out more political content.

Facebook did not comment on the request of the Vietnamese government to have the video removed.

Vietnam has one of the most advanced and sophisticated online influence networks within Southeast Asia.

Facebook announced earlier in the year it had deleted some groups identified by Reuters to be part of a government-influenced operation “coordinating efforts to mass report content.”

To Lam is one the most influential officials in Vietnam. His ministry contains both Vietnam’s police force and agencies charged with investigating and suppressing dissent.

His potential candidacy for the office of state president was being touted in January’s leadership restructuring. He has, in his role as security minister, worked to detain officials in Vietnam accused of corruption or overt displaysof opulence.

To Lam led an official delegation to Karl Marx’s grave to remember the source of their water, the Communist-ruled country’s state media reported. They cited a Vietnamese proverb to pay respects.

According to an official source in the security ministry, General To Lam visited Karl Marx’s Grave to confirm the Vietnamese tradition of “remembering where our water comes from” for those who have contributed to the development of a dominating and oppressed country.