Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus Mail said a post on its Facebook account was removed on Thursday after Facebook cited a third-party copyright notice, amid what the outlet described as a wave of cyber-attacks targeting journalists and news outlets on the island.
Facebook removal notice and claimed rights holder
The removed post linked to an article published on Wednesday about the Turkish Cypriot ruling coalition’s efforts to alter payment of the cost-of-living allowance to public sector workers.
Cyprus Mail said Facebook informed it the content had been removed because the platform “received a notice from a third party that it infringes their copyright”.
Facebook identified the owner of the rights to the content as “Mr Abishek Dhoreliya”, listed as the “sole proprietor of Markscan”.
Markscan is based in New Delhi, India, and describes itself as “a digital asset protection and policy advisory firm”.
Wider impact on Cyprus-based outlets and individuals
Cyprus Mail said the removal followed similar issues affecting other outlets in recent days.
Impacted outlets included the social media accounts of newspaper Yeniduzen and the news websites Kibris Postasi, Haber Kibris, Kibris Genc TV, Bugun Kibris, and My Kibris Haber. Political chat show host Mustafa Alkan and social media journalist Serdinc Maypa also had social media posts deleted.
Yeniduzen’s entire Facebook page was removed from the platform on Wednesday night.
Keywords reportedly targeted
Yeniduzen reported that content using keywords such as “Juju” — the nickname of Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel’s longtime close personal associate Fatma Unal — as well as “cyber-attack”, and words related to ongoing strikes and protests in the north had been targeted.
Cyprus Mail said this pattern also applied in its case, with its article referring to last week’s general strike in the north.
What steps, if any, should social media platforms take when posts are removed following third-party copyright notices?