‘#Saltbae’ hashtag unblocked by Facebook following criticism over Vietnamese minister’s golden steak

Originally posted on Gokce’s official TikTok account, the video showed To Lam being fed a gold leaf encrusted steak by the Instagram-famous chef. It wasn’t immediately clear why the ‘#saltbae’ tag had been blocked, and the spokesperson declined to comment on potential reasons. — Reuters

HANOI: Facebook’s parent company said on Nov 9 it had unblocked the hashtag for celebrity chef Nusret Gokce’s nickname ‘#saltbae’, having found the tag had been blocked globally days after a video was posted online of Gokce feeding a gold-encrusted steak to a senior Vietnamese Communist Party official in London.

“We’ve unblocked this hashtag on Facebook and we’re investigating why this happened,” a spokesperson for Facebook operator Meta told Reuters, confirming the tag had been blocked for all Facebook users around the world, not just in Vietnam.