Papua New Guinea is banning Facebook for one month in order to research the social network’s effects on the population and to crack down on fake accounts.

Sam Basil, the country’s communication minister, said that the one-month ban will allow his agency to “filter” fake accounts and pornography from the website.

“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,” he told the Post Courier newspaper in Papua New Guinea, according to The Guardian. “This will allow genuine people with real identities to use the social network responsibly.”

The move comes as Facebook is facing criticism from users and lawmakers worldwide over its handling of user data, including a revelation that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had improperly obtained data on at least 87 million Facebook users.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot ZuckerbergGOP chairman 'deeply disappointed' Zuckerberg declined to testify at hearing Facebook unveils feature to combat vaccine misinformation Facebook commits M for project to detect deepfakes MORE testified to Congress last month about the controversy.

The social networking giant has also been a focus of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The social network has deleted hundreds of Russia-linked accounts that it says were used to sow divisions in the U.S. ahead of the election through organizing events, controversial posts and targeted ad buys.

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“The two cases involving Facebook show us the vulnerabilities that Papua New Guinean citizens and residents on their personal data and exchanges when using this social network,” Basil said last month.

He also suggested that Papua New Guinea could create its own social network for citizens “to use with genuine profiles.”

Aim Sinpeng, a digital media expert from the University of Sydney, told The Guardian that the vast majority of Papua New Guineans do not use Facebook, so a ban will not have a major effect on the population.

Sinpeng questioned the reasoning behind the ban, saying that it is possible for the government to conduct research and crack down on fake accounts without limiting user access to the social network.

“One month is an interesting time limit for a ban, I am not exactly sure what they think they can achieve, and why a ban is necessary,” Sinpeng said. “You can do Facebook analysis without it.”</s>The Papua New Guinean government will ban Facebook for a month in a bid to crack down on "fake users" and study the effects the website is having on the population. From a report:</s>Papua New Guinea is banning Facebook for one month in order to research the social network’s effects on the population and to crack down on fake accounts.

Sam Basil, the country’s communication minister, said that the one-month ban will allow his agency to “filter” fake accounts and pornography from the website.

“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,” he told the Post Courier newspaper in Papua New Guinea, according to The Guardian. “This will allow genuine people with real identities to use the social network responsibly.”

The move comes as Facebook is facing criticism from users and lawmakers worldwide over its handling of user data, including a revelation that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had improperly obtained data on at least 87 million Facebook users.</s>EXPECT fewer status updates from Papua New Guinea. The country’s Information and Communications Technology Authority is planning a month-long Facebook shutdown to conduct research on how the social media platform is being used.

Sam Basil, the communications minister, told local news outlets that the downtime will allow information to be collected to identify the country’s fake users, as well as those who upload “false or misleading” information or pornographic content. His department will also use the month to look into creating a new social network for citizens of Papua New Guinea.

It is not clear why the experiment is focusing on a Facebook shutdown, rather than studying the site up and running. Only around 12 per cent of citizens have access to the internet.

China, Iran and North Korea all have blanket bans on Facebook, and other countries have blocked the platform temporarily, often during protests or in the run-up to elections.

This article appeared in print under the headline “Papua New Guinea Facebook break”</s>The government of Papua New Guinea has announced that the country will ban Facebook for a month to study the effects that the world’s largest social network is having on its citizens, and to crack down on “fake users.”



Less than 10% of Papua New Guinea's population of 8 million people have access to the internet, according to data from the World Bank, but the country's communication minister Sam Basil told the Post-Courier that shutting down Facebook for a month would still allow analysts in his department to study how citizens of Papua New Guinea were using the platform, among other things.

“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,” Basil said. “This will allow genuine people with real identities to use the social network responsibly.”

The move comes as Facebook is increasingly being probed by governments across the world after it emerged that the social network, which has more than 2 billion users globally, leaked the personal data of 87 million Americans to private data analysis firm Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook did not respond to a request for comment from BuzzFeed News.

Basil also said that he was evaluating the possibility of creating a new social network exclusively for Papua New Guinea’s citizens. “If there need be then 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,” he said.

Papua New Guinea isn’t the first country that is considering revoking access to Facebook for a limited period. In March, Sri Lanka blocked Facebook and Facebook-owned instant messenger WhatsApp for three days in response to posts on the social network calling for attacks on Muslims.</s>The Papua New Guinean government will ban Facebook for a month in a bid to crack down on “fake users” and study the effects the website is having on the population.

The communication minister, Sam Basil, said the shutdown would allow his department’s analysts to carry out research and analysis on who was using the platform, and how they were using it, admits rising concerns about social well-being, security and productivity.

“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,” Basil told the Post Courier newspaper. “This will allow genuine people with real identities to use the social network responsibly.”

Basil has repeatedly raised concerns about protecting the privacy of PNG’s Facebook users in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica revelations, which found Facebook had leaked the personal data of tens of millions of users to a private company. The minister has closely followed the US Senate inquiry into Facebook.

“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 PNG users,” said Basil last month.



“The two cases involving Facebook show us the vulnerabilities that Papua New Guinean citizens and residents on their personal data and exchanges when using this social network.”

“We can also look at the possibility of creating a new social network site for PNG citizens to use with genuine profiles as well,” said Basil. “If there need be then 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 the risks and vulnerabilities of Facebook were wider than the potential threat of data breaches, and included the possibility of Facebook acting as an unchecked advertising platform, a threat to people’s productivity – especially among children and employees – and wider issues of cyber-security.

The PNG government would be studying how other countries were handling Facebook around the world, and the impact of government policies on private users of the network.

Facebook has been contacted for comment.</s>Papua New Guinea is taking a proactive approach to Facebook’s fake user problem. The country announced that they are banning the social media site for a month in a bid to crack down on “fake users” and study the effects the website is having on the population, according to The Guardian .

The country’s communication minister, Sam Basil, has been closely monitoring Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica data leak and has warned that the government never properly educated it citizens’ on the risks of using Facebook. That will change with the temporary shutdown. “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,” Basil told the Post Courier newspaper. “This will allow genuine people with real identities to use the social network responsibly.”

Papua New Guinea is a good test site for this tactic, as per Australia’s ABC, the government estimates that less than one tenth of the country’s population uses Facebook. Of course that is still some 600-700,000 people sharing private data online.</s>The government of Papua New Guinea announced Tuesday that it will block the social network for a month to allow researchers to identify fake accounts and users who post pornography and misinformation, according to the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier.

Papua New Guinea’s communications minister, Sam Basil, told the newspaper that the temporary shutdown would give researchers a chance to analyze how Facebook is used in the country and to explore the development of its own social network for the nation’s citizens. Basil said preventing access to Facebook in the country could reveal benefits to the population or lead to the conclusion that people are actually better off without it.

Basil did not say when the ban would begin, according to the Post-Courier.

Facebook said in a statement to The Washington Post on Tuesday, “We have reached out to the government to understand their concerns.”

According to government estimates cited by the Australian Broadcasting Corp., about 600,000 to 700,000 people in Papua New Guinea use Facebook, out of a population of roughly 8 million.

Facebook, which has more than 2 billion users, is facing mounting pressure from skeptical governments around the globe. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg endured rounds of grilling by dozens of U.S. lawmakers last month, during which he repeatedly apologized and promised changes to privacy policies after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. And last week, Zuckerberg fielded questions in Brussels from frustrated members of the European Parliament who needled him over the company’s recent controversies over privacy and misinformation.

The recent hearings in Europe and the United States also reflect a growing unease with Facebook’s dominant position in the marketplace, with lawmakers pressing Zuckerberg to identify which companies closely compete with his. Critics of Facebook say the company deserves robust scrutiny, considering its history of apologies and promises. Some have argued that Facebook should be broken up or face new regulations that address the increasing power and influence of massive technology platforms.

The month-long censorship in Papua New Guinea may also lead to the creation of an alternative to the Silicon Valley-based Facebook, Basil suggested. “If there need be, then 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 told the Post-Courier.

Earlier this year, officials in Sri Lanka imposed a weeklong ban on the social networking site. The government banned Facebook on the grounds that the platform was being used to fuel sectarian violence in the country. Authoritarian governments, including Iran and China, have also blocked access to Facebook as part of broader efforts to censor media and the flow of information.</s>The Papua New Guinean government will ban Facebook for a month in a bid to crack down on “fake users” and study the effects the website is having on the population.

The communication minister, Sam Basil, said the shutdown would allow his department’s analysts to carry out research and analysis on who was using the platform, and how they were using it, admits rising concerns about social well-being, security and productivity.

“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,” Basil told the Post Courier newspaper. “This will allow genuine people with real identities to use the social network responsibly.”

Basil has repeatedly raised concerns about protecting the privacy of PNG’s Facebook users in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica revelations, which found Facebook had leaked the personal data of tens of millions of users to a private company. The minister has closely followed the US Senate inquiry into Facebook.

“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 PNG users,” said Basil last month. “The two cases involving Facebook show us the vulnerabilities that Papua New Guinean citizens and residents on their personal data and exchanges when using this social network.”

“We can also look at the possibility of creating a new social network site for PNG citizens to use with genuine profiles as well,” said Basil. “If there need be then 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 the risks and vulnerabilities of Facebook were wider than the potential threat of data breaches, and included the possibility of Facebook acting as an unchecked advertising platform, a threat to people’s productivity - especially among children and employees - and wider issues of cyber-security.

The PNG government said it would be studying how other countries were handling Facebook around the world, and the impact of government policies on private users of the network.

Dr Aim Sinpeng, an expert in digital media and politics from the University of Sydney, said the ban raised some troubling questions, because when Facebook had been banned in other countries it was usually in the run-up to elections, or banned indefinitely, like in China.

“One month is an interesting time limit for a ban, I am not exactly sure what they think they can achieve, and why a ban is necessary. You can do Facebook analysis without it. And what data are the government collecting? If they are concerned about fake news there are many ways to do it without issuing a ban on a platform,” she said.

Dr Sinpeng said the most recent statistics she had seen put internet penetration at just 12 per cent in PNG, and Facebook penetration was closely related to internet access; meaning it was likely the platform wasn’t used by the vast majority of people.

“Politically I think they will be able to get away with the ban because internet penetration is not high, a ban is not viable in countries with 60-70% penetration. These issues with Facebook are being spoken about in a number of other countries, so the fact that PNG is on the bandwagon shows how widespread concerns have become.”

Facebook has been contacted for comment. – Guardian News and Media 2018</s>The government in Papua New Guinea wants to examine Facebook’s impact on the country.

Papua New Guinea is to ban Facebook for a month to study the effect of the social network on its population.

Sam Basil, the communications minister for the country, said the move will make it easier to get research and analysis on how the platform is being used and who is using it.

Basil told the Post Courier newspaper: “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.

“This will allow genuine people with real identities to use the social network responsibly,” he said.

Last month, Basil commented on the platform and its establishment in Papua New Guinea, saying: “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 PNG users.”

The minister had previously raised concerns in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, noting the apparent risks to personal data stemming from use of the network.

According to Basil, the government is also considering creating a new social networking site specifically for citizens of the country. “If there need be, then 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.”

The investigation will look at the effects Facebook has on “time consumption and productivity of users – especially school-aged children and employees – and, of course, the wider issue of cybersecurity and cybercrime”, according to Basil.

Papua New Guinea enacted a cybercrime act in 2017 and, although it received plaudits for focusing on network and data security, some people are concerned it could create an environment where censorship thrives. Defamatory content, offensive publications and inciting unrest can all be punished by up to 25 years in jail and some are worried these penalties will be doled out to those who criticise the government in PNG.
Papua New Guinea bans Facebook for a month "in order to research the social network’s effects on the population and to crack down on fake accounts."