Papua New Guinea is planning to shut down the social media site in its effort to identify fake accounts and blocks fake news.
Papua New Guinea has decided to ban Facebook for a month while the government tries to block fake news. They are also strengthening their efforts to identify fake accounts.
According to Communications Minister Sam Basil, the shutdown will “allow information to be collected” about people using the social media site. Those who upload porn and defamatory information will be removed from Facebook.
“This will allow genuine people with real identities to use the social network responsibly,” said Basil.
The government is looking into developing a local alternative to the social media giant.
“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 was quoted as saying by local media.
There is no announcement yet on when the government will carry out the shutdown. The capital Port Moresby is hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit later this year. The government might schedule the ban to coincide with this event.
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