Prime Minister, Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt, warned those who leak government information, saying, “This is betraying the government.” 

In his press conference on Wednesday, Laaulialemalietoa said government employees have strained their relationship with officials, and some have betrayed the government by leaking information.

The remarks came after questions about a cabinet directive, known as an FK (Faaiuga Kapeneta), obtained by the Samoa Observer, which stated that all public notices, tenders, announcements, vacancies, contract positions, advertisements, and other government-related notices will only be published and broadcast on government media platforms. 

The directive follows the Prime Minister’s ban on the Samoa Observer in November. Laaulialemalietoa said the FK was a decision carefully considered in cabinet.

Addressing questions about the FK, he said, “This is exactly what I am talking about, when the government discusses issues, and it leaks before the discussion is complete.”

He stressed that all government statements must go through the Press Secretary before being released to the media. “The information needs to go through the press secretary, and then it is passed on to the media for release,” he said. He also noted that breaking news on government matters is often reported from outside official channels.

“What’s happening right now is that breaking news is coming from outside of government,” he said. “Anything to do with the government, the government will release and create the breaking news; anything to do with the country, it is up to the media to pursue.”

Laaulialemalietoa said that moving forward, government matters will "only be released through official channels."

He added that the media can report on other matters but stressed the importance of accuracy in government statements. “Because there is so much chaos happening right now, this ensures that information from the government is correct and is written according to the correct information provided by the government,” he said.

Laaulialemalietoa said that the government's current communications are, "Five official outlets, including the Press Secretariat, 2AP, FM, TV9, and Savali."