--- title: "An Entire Island Nation Is Banning Facebook" description: "The government of the Solomon Islands, a nation of hundreds of islands in the South Pacific, is defending its decision to temporarily ban Facebook." date: "2020-11-24" modified: "2020-11-24" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/solomon-islands-banning-facebook" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "facebook" - "pacific ocean" - "south pacific" - "the digest" --- # An Entire Island Nation Is Banning Facebook ![The government of the Solomon Islands, a nation of hundreds of islands in the South Pacific, is defending its decision to temporarily ban Facebook.]() *\Image: Holland America\* ## Facebook Ban The government of the Solomon Islands, a nation of hundreds of individual islands in the South Pacific, is planning to temporarily ban the entirety of Facebook, [*ABC Australia* reports](). The ban is allegedly an attempt to curb cyberbullying and online defamation, according to prime minister Manasseh Sogavare. "Cyberbullying on Facebook is widespread, people have been defamed by users who use fake names, and people's reputations that have been built up over the years \[are destroyed\] in a matter of minutes," Sogavare told the island nation's parliament, as quoted by *ABC*. ## Overreach Critics are decrying the move as a needless and unjust overreach of governmental powers — and a way to silence the opposition. It's also unclear how Sogavare plans to actually go about banning the massive social media network, how such a ban would be enforced, and for how long. Opposition MP and foreign relations committee chairman Peter Kenilorea Jr. called the ban "a direct and brazen assault on the freedom of expression," [*The Guardian* reports](). But the nation's Cabinet agreed to ban Facebook last week. "Abusive languages against Ministers, Prime Minister, character assassination, defamation of character, all these are issues of concerns," communication and civil aviation minister Peter Shanel Agovaka [told local newspaper *Solomon Times*]() at the time. ## The Kids Agovaka also said the move was intended to "safeguard our young people from harmful content" as there currently is "no legislation to govern the use of the internet," allowing them to "download harmful stuff from the internet." Solomon Islands is not alone in its efforts to silence Facebook. Other nations in the Pacific including Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Samoa have all considered implementing similar bans as well. **READ MORE:** [Solomon Islands set to ban Facebook in the name of 'national unity']() \[*ABC*\] **More on Facebook:** *[Facebook Waited Until October 12, 2020 to Ban Holocaust Denial]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()