The government of Papua New Guinea is to impose a month-long ban on Facebook in order to “study the effects the website is having on the population” and crack down on “fake users”.
The Oceanian country’s communications minister, Sam Basil, said restricting access to the website would allow his department’s analysts to gather information in order “to identify users that hide behind fake accounts, users that upload pornographic images, [and] users that post false and misleading information”.
This content will be “filtered and removed”, leaving “genuine people with real identities to use the social network responsibly”, he added.
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The planned move comes amid growing concerns about the effects of social media on users’ well-being, security and productivity, The Guardian says.
Basil told Papua New Guinea’s Post-Courier newspaper: “The national government, swept along by IT globalisation, never really had the chance to ascertain the advantages or disadvantages [of Facebook] – and even educate and provide guidance on use of social networks like Facebook to Papua New Guinean users.”
The minister also suggested the possibility of creating a home-grown equivalent for the sovereign island nation, in the western South Pacific Ocean.
“We can gather our local applications developers to create a site that is more conducive for Papua New Guineans to communicate within the country and abroad as well,” Basil said.
It’s unclear when the ban will go into effect, or why the blockage was deemed necessary to study the use of Facebook, says Time magazine.
The plan has faced widespread criticism in Papua New Guinea. Paul Barker, director of the Papuan think-tank Institute of National Affairs, described the move as a “mockery” of regulations laid out by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), of which Papua New Guinea is a member.
“The Apec meeting is all about promoting the digital era to assist business, develop economies and improve citizen welfare in member countries,” Barker said. “It would be a travesty if Papua New Guinea sought to close down Facebook during the Apec month [in November], making Papua New Guinea seem rather foolish, as it would be both an attack on embracing technology, undermining the information era and mechanisms for accountability, but also damaging business and welfare.”
In a series of interviews by the Post-Courier, residents described the proposed shutdown as “a knee-jerk reaction” and “a total violation of civil rights”.
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