Police Commissioner David Manning has announced the removal of Facebook restrictions after an anti- terrorism operation resulted in the identification of people involved in what the Commissioner said was a plot to wreak havoc in the country. He revealed that a counter-terrorism operation now is underway to apprehend two men connected to attempts to incite an act of terrorism. The identification of the two men and the dismantling of their criminal network follows extensive investigations over recent days, with the shutdown of the social media platform being part of that operation. Commissioner Manning confirmed the operation has involved a range of investigative mechanisms provided for under the Counter-Terrorism Act 2024. He confirmed recent police operations have reduced the immediacy of threat posed to communities and temporary restrictions on the Facebook social media platform have now been removed. “While the counter-terrorism operation remains ongoing, police action over the past hours has seen mitigation of the immediate threat to public safety. In this instance, a number of offenders leveraged the anonymity of the Facebook social media platform to issue threats of violence, incite violent conflict, and encourage acts that would harm communities and create social unrest," said the Commissioner. He said the volume and reach of these anonymous accounts mean the incitement of this criminal network spreads far and wide and taking immediate and decisive action in this instance has seen police identify the principal offenders, break apart this criminal network, and protect innocent communities from their malicious intentions. The focus of investigations has now turned to the identification of co-offenders, both citizen and expatriate, and the targeting financial assets in connection with this offending with accounts being frozen, funds confiscated, and assets seized. “Removing the money used by these criminals is essential to preventing them from starting up their activities again and threatening communities," Manning said. “Police take threats to the safety of our community seriously. We will not tolerate the abuse of ICT systems, artificial media content and misinformation to incite ethnic conflict, urge acts of violence or cause damage to critical infrastructure.” Now with Facebook restrictions removed, Manning is reminding people who use social media to do so with caution. Furthermore, the Commissioner expressed his appreciation for the responsible response from law-abiding citizens for their support for the temporary restriction. As investigation remain ongoing, further information will be released at an appropriate time.