The government of Papua New Guinea has announced that it will block Facebook for a month to sift out fake profiles, users who post pornography and assess the effect of Facebook on the population. Communication Minister of Papua New Guinea, Sam Basil, stated that online criminals are abusing the social media site with fake identities and the ban will allow the country to enforce the Cyber Crime Act passed in 2016.
Whilst researchers will be analyzing how Facebook is used in the country, the government will be exploring other options of its own social network for its citizens. Basil stated the ban could reveal the conclusion that people do not really need Facebook and are actually ‘better off without it.’
The date for the ban has not yet been revealed but it comes at a time when Facebook is facing extreme pressure from governments around the world. Recently, Mark Zuckerberg who acts as CEO of Facebook, had to endure grilling questions from the U.S. Senate over the misuse of data and privacy concerns involving data mining consultant firm, Cambridge Analytica Limited.
Zuckerberg was again questioned by members of the European Parliament in Brussels, last week, because of data privacy concerns. Earlier this year, the government of Sri Lanka moved to ban the social media site for one week accusing it of fueling ‘sectarian violence in the country.’ In the past, countries like: China, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Vietnam have temporarily blocked Facebook from its populace.
Since news of the impending ban in Papua New Guinea emerged, Facebook has since reached out to the government in order to get a better understanding of their concerns.
Could Facebook’s stock price be affected by the Papua New Guinea ban?
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