Solomon Islands to ban Facebook

By RNZ

The Solomon Islands Cabinet agreed to ban Facebook, citing the need for stricter legislation and regulation on cybercrime.

Communications Minister Peter Shanel Agovaka confirmed the decision to the Solomon Times newspaper, saying that public misuse of the platform was the main concern.

“Abusive language against ministers, Prime Minister, murder of characters, defamation of characters, these are all issues of concern,” Agovaka said.

He said the country lacked legislation on internet use and cybercrime, which was particularly concerning when it came to what children had access to and what they were exposed to.

“Internet use now in the Solomon Islands must be properly regulated to protect our youth from harmful content,” he said.

The minister said this was not an attack on freedom of expression and noted that freedom of the press was still protected.

Agovaka also said that the decision would not require Parliament’s approval.

“The government is still in talks with the operators to find out how this can be done. The operators will have to set up a firewall to block Facebook.”

However, Agovaka said that the initial decision, made last week, did not take into account the economic impacts of the decision which would be fully investigated before the ban was imposed.

There are only four countries in the world where Facebook is banned around the clock: China, Iran, Syria and North Korea.