Papua New Guinea takes a month-long 'break' from Facebook

This week, Papua New Guinea Today reported that the country will block Facebook for a month to evaluate how its residents are using the social network. When exactly this will happen is currently unclear.

The country's Communications and Information Technology Department will oversee the temporary ban and collect information on fake accounts, as well as people who upload porn and fake news to the service. "This will allow genuine people with real identities to use the social network responsibly," Sam Basil, Papua New Guinea's Communication Minister, said to Papua New Guinea Today.

This move is part of the Cyber Crime Act, which criminalizes online harassment and bullying, child pornography, the production or publication of adult pornography, unlawful disclosure of private information, unlawful advertising and more. The shutdown is aimed at enforcing this law. Bell also floated the idea of a social network for the citizens of Papua New Guinea where people could be certain that they are interacting with genuine profiles.

What isn't clear is why Papua New Guinea needs to fully shut down Facebook in order to conduct this experiment. The Guardian spoke with Dr. Aim Sinpeng, an expert from the University of Sydney, who pointed out that previously when Facebook has been blocked in countries, it's in the run-up to elections (or in the case of China, it's been banned indefinitely).

Dr. Sinpeng believes this is just another country making its concern about Facebook known. And because such a low percentage of the population uses the internet in Papua New Guinea (around 12 percent), the government can probably get away with this move without too much trouble. "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" she told The Guardian.

Via: The Guardian

Source: Papua New Guinea Today



via Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/2L0nmkQ
RSS Feed

If New feed item from http://www.engadget.com/rss-full.xml, then send me

IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Evernote cuts staff as user growth stalls

Image
Note-taking app Evernote has fallen on hard times of late, culminating in its latest spate of job cuts impacting 15 percent of its workforce (54 employees). CEO Chris O' Neil -- an ex-Googler who took the reins in 2015 -- announced the firings at an all-hands meeting earlier today, reports TechCrunch . In a message on the Evernote blog , O' Neill admitted he'd set "incredibly aggressive goals" for the company in 2018. He continued: "Going forward, we are streamlining certain functions, like sales, so we can continue to speed up and scale others, like product development and engineering." The layoffs follow an exec exodus just weeks ago and the company's recent brand refresh (complete with a refined logo and wordmark). But critics are more concerned about its product, especially the free tier, which they claim lacks the perks to...
Read more

The best air conditioner

Image
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After six summers of researching, testing, and recommending window air conditioners, we've learned that quiet and affordable ACs make most people the happiest—and we think the LG LW8016ER will fit the bill in most rooms. This 8,000 Btu unit cools as efficiently and effectively as any model with an equal Btu rating, and runs at a lower volume and deeper pitch than others at this price. Little extra features like a fresh-air vent, two-axis fan blades, and a removable drain plug help set it apart, too. The LG LW8016ER is a top choice for an office or den, and some people will find it quiet enough for a bedroom, too. If our main pic...
Read more

We won't see a 'universal' vape oil cartridge anytime soon

Image
Pre-loaded cartridges of cannabis concentrate are currently among the most popular means of consumption, and for good reason. They're discreet to use and easy to handle, a far cry from the dark days of 2016 when we had to dribble hash oil or load wax into narrow-mouthed vape pens by hand. But, frustratingly, an ever increasing number of oil cartridge manufacturers employ one-off design standards so that their products won't work with those of their competitors, thereby locking customers into proprietary ecosystems. We've already seen this with nicotine vaporizers -- which has a seen a massive rise in "pod systems" in the last few years, each outfitted with a unique canister and battery built to be incompatible with those of their competition. Is it too late for the burgeoning cannabis industry to set a universal standard for their product designs? ...
Read more