Papua New Guinea to ban Facebook to tackle 'fake news'
Sydney, May 29 :The Papua New Guinea government is planning to shut down Facebook for a month to understand users' behaviour and safeguard them from fake news.
According to a report in The Post Courier on Monday, Communication Minister Sam Basil said the shutdown would enable the department and Papua New Guinea National Research Institute conduct research on how the social networking site is being used by users.
"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 was quoted as saying.
The effort is seen as to plug loopholes after the British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica improperly shared personal data of of 87 million Facebook users.
The data was gathered via a quiz app "thisisyourdigitallife" developed by Aleksandr Kogan, then a psychology researcher with University of Cambridge, and his company Global Science Research (GSR) which pulled out Facebook users' data in 2014-2015.
According to Basil, the move will allow genuine people with real identities to use the social network responsibly. Facebook was yet to comment on this development. The government is also aiming to enforce the Cyber Crime Act.
"We cannot allow the abuse of Facebook to continue in the country. I will now work closely with the police for them to be properly trained and informed to fully enforce the Cyber Crime Act," said Basil.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week apologised for the Cambridge Analytica data breach in front of the European Parliament (EU) leaders.
Zuckerberg stressed that the social networking giant is trying to plug loopholes across its services, including curbing fake news and political interference on its platform in the wake of upcoming elections globally, including in India.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Davangere: Two policemen injured in stone pelting during Ganesha procession
Davangere: Reports state that two groups engaged in stone pelting at each other during Ganesha idol immersion ceremony in Davangere on Thursday. Two police personnel were injured in the incident.
Few days ago, two groups of youth engaged in verbal altercation regarding raising of a flag for Eid Milad celebration. On account of the clashes, police had heightened security for the Ganesha procession. Despite the additional security, stones were pelted at the procession, sources stated. Inspector Gururaj and constable Raghavendra were injured in the incident. The procession continued after the police brought the situation to control. However, the stone pelting resumed once again as the procession surged forwards.
Security has been tightened up in the area and all shops have been closed down by the police. The two police personnel, who were injured in the stone pelting, are undergoing treatment at a hospital.
