The government in Papua New Guinea has decided to ban Facebook for a month. The move comes in a bid to study the effects of social media on the people of the small island nation. In addition to the study, fake users will also be targeted and eliminated from the social platform.
Papua New Guinea’s communication minister, Sam Basil,
“The time will allow information to be collected to identify users that hide behind fake accounts, users that upload pornographic images, users that post false and misleading information on Facebook to be filtered and removed.”
With recent scandals like the Cambridge Analytica Facebook data leak still fresh in people’s minds, Basil says that the country is acting with its citizens’ best interests at heart. There are also plans for a local social network being set up on the island, but Basil says the government will wait until the results of this study are known before action is taken.
Another Internet Shutdown
As other countries have before it, Papua New Guinea may simply want to better control the spread of information within its own borders by censoring portions of the web. Internet shutdowns have become unfortunately common place: They happened in at least 30 countries in the last two years, according to data compiled by Access Now, a global nonprofit that advocates for a free and open internet. The organization views Papua New Guinea's mulling over a ban in much the same way that it has viewed other shutdowns in the past.
"We clearly oppose this move as an unlawful restriction on freedom of expression," says Peter Micek, general counsel at Access Now. "It's not entirely unexpected; we've seen a rise in intentional disruptions over the last couple of years. These blunt blocking measures are really attractive to policy makers who don't really understand what's going on online and often feel like they can't control the spread of information."
Papua New Guinea also wouldn't be the first county in the region to block Facebook; the island nation of Nauru restricted access to the site over pornography-related concerns in 2015. Observers worry, though, that Papua New Guinea is merely borrowing problems cited by other countries, like fraudulent profiles and fake news, to try to block speech.
"The government is concerned because a lot of the corrupt dealings and activities are being exposed in detail on Facebook," says Mellie Musonera, a conservation biologist from PNG. "Facebook users are posting evidence such as bank statements, letters, photos and more which already shows and implicates members of parliament of being involved in suspicious and even criminal dealings."
Targeting fake profiles and pornography also seems a bit specious. Activists and other vulnerable groups often conceal their identity to protect themselves, and posting porn is already against Facebook's policies.
Avoiding the Same Mistakes
Papua New Guinea's proposed Facebook ban, as Micek notes, does appear different from other internet shutdowns or blocking efforts. For one, it's not connected to an election—as many often are—and the proposed duration isn't especially long. That might mean Papua New Guinea genuinely wants to carry out an experiment to learn how the platform influences the country.
Francisco Bencosme, the Asia Pacific advocacy manager at Amnesty International, says that scandals like the one over data firm Cambridge Analytica have influenced how Asian countries think about their relationship to platforms like Facebook. Indonesia, Papua New Guinea's neighbor, was directly involved: Data belonging to around one million of its citizens was believed to have been swept up by the data firm.
In one sense, Papua New Guinea and other nations like it could be applauded for attempting to prevent Facebook from becoming the country's dominant distributor of information. But the manner in which it's they're doing so—threatening to completely block valuable services—is a clear cause for concern.
Few considered how Papua New Guinea's own citizens even feel about the proposed ban, which propelled their often ignored home into global headlines. It's fundamentally unfair for Westerns to assume they know how Papua New Guineans use Facebook, or what the platform means to their country. "You cannot assume you understand that, because you understand Facebook in the United States," West says
To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow All is well on Facebook, Youtube and Twitter
Papua New Guinea’s communication minister, Sam Basil,
“The time will allow information to be collected to identify users that hide behind fake accounts, users that upload pornographic images, users that post false and misleading information on Facebook to be filtered and removed.”
With recent scandals like the Cambridge Analytica Facebook data leak still fresh in people’s minds, Basil says that the country is acting with its citizens’ best interests at heart. There are also plans for a local social network being set up on the island, but Basil says the government will wait until the results of this study are known before action is taken.
Another Internet Shutdown
As other countries have before it, Papua New Guinea may simply want to better control the spread of information within its own borders by censoring portions of the web. Internet shutdowns have become unfortunately common place: They happened in at least 30 countries in the last two years, according to data compiled by Access Now, a global nonprofit that advocates for a free and open internet. The organization views Papua New Guinea's mulling over a ban in much the same way that it has viewed other shutdowns in the past.
"We clearly oppose this move as an unlawful restriction on freedom of expression," says Peter Micek, general counsel at Access Now. "It's not entirely unexpected; we've seen a rise in intentional disruptions over the last couple of years. These blunt blocking measures are really attractive to policy makers who don't really understand what's going on online and often feel like they can't control the spread of information."
Papua New Guinea also wouldn't be the first county in the region to block Facebook; the island nation of Nauru restricted access to the site over pornography-related concerns in 2015. Observers worry, though, that Papua New Guinea is merely borrowing problems cited by other countries, like fraudulent profiles and fake news, to try to block speech.
"The government is concerned because a lot of the corrupt dealings and activities are being exposed in detail on Facebook," says Mellie Musonera, a conservation biologist from PNG. "Facebook users are posting evidence such as bank statements, letters, photos and more which already shows and implicates members of parliament of being involved in suspicious and even criminal dealings."
Targeting fake profiles and pornography also seems a bit specious. Activists and other vulnerable groups often conceal their identity to protect themselves, and posting porn is already against Facebook's policies.
Avoiding the Same Mistakes
Papua New Guinea's proposed Facebook ban, as Micek notes, does appear different from other internet shutdowns or blocking efforts. For one, it's not connected to an election—as many often are—and the proposed duration isn't especially long. That might mean Papua New Guinea genuinely wants to carry out an experiment to learn how the platform influences the country.
Francisco Bencosme, the Asia Pacific advocacy manager at Amnesty International, says that scandals like the one over data firm Cambridge Analytica have influenced how Asian countries think about their relationship to platforms like Facebook. Indonesia, Papua New Guinea's neighbor, was directly involved: Data belonging to around one million of its citizens was believed to have been swept up by the data firm.
In one sense, Papua New Guinea and other nations like it could be applauded for attempting to prevent Facebook from becoming the country's dominant distributor of information. But the manner in which it's they're doing so—threatening to completely block valuable services—is a clear cause for concern.
Few considered how Papua New Guinea's own citizens even feel about the proposed ban, which propelled their often ignored home into global headlines. It's fundamentally unfair for Westerns to assume they know how Papua New Guineans use Facebook, or what the platform means to their country. "You cannot assume you understand that, because you understand Facebook in the United States," West says
To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow All is well on Facebook, Youtube and Twitter
No comments:
Post a Comment