By GINNAH MINI
Member for Wewak, Stanley Samban, has raised series of questions without notice in Parliament to the Minister for Information and Communication Technology over the abuse of social media platforms, specifically Facebook, by individuals operating under fake names and fraudulent accounts.
Mr. Samban noted that while digital connectivity is vital for the advancement of PNG and its citizens, the country is witnessing a dangerous trend, where anonymous accounts are being weaponized to attack citizens and public.
“This is not a matter of healthy democratic debate, this is a coordinated wave of cyber bullying, character assassination and misinformation that targets every citizen, vulnerable individuals and leadership alike,” Mr. Samban said.
Mr. Samban questioned the ICT Minister over what legislative measures are in place to address this issue and the effectiveness of the Cybercrime Code Act 2016.
He also asked about the avenues of immediate recourse and support for the many silent victims of social media abuse who currently feel helpless against enormous online attacks.
In response, Acting Minister for ICT, Peter Tsiamalili Jnr said that the Wewak MP raised important questions that affect most people in PNG.
“One of the immediate interventions that the Department of ICT (DICT) has now taken care of, and which has been one of our biggest challenges, is the identification of Facebook users,” Mr. Tsiamalili said.
Tsiamalili said that while talks with Meta to Impose prerequisite (NID or driver’s license) to register online was not successful, DICT has launched “Digital Pass/ID” for public to register themselves as PNG citizens with their fingerprint and facial recognition.
Tsiamalili said he has had discussions with the Australian Government to advise Meta (owner of Facebook and other platforms) to recommend PNG Facebook users to use the Digital ID as a criteria to access Facebook.
The Digital ID will make it easier to recognize people creating and using fake Facebook profiles. Tsiamalili added that DICT will work with telecommunications companies in PNG to ensure that Digital ID is incorporated into the SIM card users to fast track users and abusers of social media.