A controversial post by ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad following the terrorist killings in France was the first case selected by Facebook's independent oversight board under which the social media company's decisions to remove certain pieces of content from its platforms are being evaluated.

"A user posted a screenshot of two tweets by former Malaysian prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in which the former prime minister stated that 'Muslims have a right to be angry and kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past' and 'but, by and large, the Muslims have not applied the 'eye for an eye' law. Muslims don't. The French shouldn't. Instead, the French should teach their people to respect other people's feelings'.

"The user did not add a caption alongside the screenshots...