Tieschen mayor regains access to Meta platforms

The mayor of Tieschen, a municipality in the Southeast Styria district, has regained access to his WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram accounts, ORF reported on Wednesday.

Martin Weber of the Social Democratic Party was blocked from all three platforms several days ago after comparing US President Donald Trump with Germany’s Alternative for Germany party in a Facebook post.

Weber said he had checked the platforms every few hours before discovering that WhatsApp was working again on Wednesday afternoon. Instagram and Facebook became accessible a few minutes later.

Reason for suspension remains unclear

Meta did not tell Weber why the accounts had been suspended. He said he had been in contact several times with a law firm representing the company, which attributed the suspension to artificial intelligence based software. The decision was then reviewed manually, he said.

Weber has since received a message from the law firm saying that all three accounts should work again. The post comparing Trump and the Alternative for Germany party is also back online.

Weber said he uses the platforms to communicate within the municipality.