Facebook ban dumped

After days of mixed messages and controversy, the Government on Wednesday morning finally dumped its plans to ban Samoans from accessing Facebook before and during a scheduled 21 May national election.
(The 21 May poll was ordered by the Head of State but is currently being challenged in the Supreme Court by Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (F.A.S.T.) party which argues it has no grounding in law).
As late as Tuesday the idea of a ban was still being considered by the Government, the Samoa Observer understands.
But the Samoa Observer has established that a Wednesday morning meeting of a Special Taskforce established to consider the ban and its impacts ultimately decided to junk the plan.
The Government was considering banning Facebook for anywhere between two days to two weeks around election time with the stated aim of ensuring national stability. Among those on the taskforce considering the ban were the Police, who said that the social media network had been used to convey death threats and other violent messages to prominent public figures, which would have been the basis for the Government’s intervention.
A Government source privy to briefings on the issue and discussions with the industry described the Government's plans as “haphazard”, poorly thought through and likely to cause significant backlash from younger voters who use the social media platform regularly.
(Representatives from the Office of the Attorney-General, the Office of the Regulator, the Samoa Law Reform Commission and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (M.C.I.T.) were also members of the taskforce).
The task force, according to insiders briefed on its meetings, never settled on issues such as how long a possible election Facebook ban might last, with figures thrown around ranging from two days to two weeks. Nor was it considered whether Samoa’s smaller internet service providers had the capacity to implement the ban in time for the slated (but legally challenged) 21 May election.
But by noon on Wednesday, the plan was dead.
The announcement the Government was junking the controversial idea came after an interview with the Sunday Samoan in which caretaker Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi said the Government was “seriously” exploring banning Facebook.
But hours after that interview Tuilaepa appeared to be contradicted by his own party with the Human Rights Protection Party (H.R.P.P.) releasing material on Facebook claiming that an H.R.P.P.-led Government would “never” implement such a ban and stories to the contrary were “fake news”.
Speaking on his radio program, Tuilaepa said the move followed concerns over attacking the public and Government officials with unfounded allegations which have had an impact on the people.
“The final decision comes from the Cabinet and we have decided not to ban [Facebook], as there are other ways to address it,” said Tuilaepa.
The Samoa Observer understands that concerns about an immense public backlash to a ban of the hugely popular social networking site, which claims to have more than 100,000 registered users in Samoa, heavily influenced the Government’s decision.
Last week, the main networks in the country; Digicel and Vodafone penned concerns to the national Regulator, Lematua Gisa Fuatai - Purcell regarding the Office of the Regulator’s proposal to block social media for up to two weeks during the upcoming elections
“We are writing to follow up on our meeting with you on 7 May 2021 regarding the so-called Special Task Force on the security of Samoa’s (Special Task Force) intend to block social media for a 2-week period effective 14 May until 28 May 2021, to cover the upcoming elections planned for 21 May 2021,” a leaked letter co-signed by both of Samoa's internet and mobile telecommunications giants said.
“We understand the purpose of the proposed measure is to manage politically motivated and threatening social media content that may pose a social, political or national security risk.
“As communicated during our meeting, the industry is extremely concerned about the implications of such a substantial directive on licensed network operators, the telecommunications industry and the people of Samoa alike.
“As such, we have worked together to formally present our initial response in regards to the proposed measure.”
The five page letter was signed off by C.E.O. for Digicel Samoa Pepe Fruean and Vodafone C.E.O. Nofoasaefa Satish Sharma.
The letter highlighted a statement that was made by the Regulator’s office as a conclusion to the draft meeting report which is understood to have already been shared with the Special Task Force.
That statement read:
“With the greatest respect, we consider this statement to be likely to inflame what is already a very sensitive situation.
“This is because it seems to suggest the proposed blocking of social media should be undertaken whatever the cost and regardless of the requirements of the existing legislative and regulatory framework.
“However, we believe it is vital that we ensure any actions undertaken by the telecommunications industry are carefully considered, proportionate and undertaken within the laws of Samoa.”
Internet service providers were also worried about the costs of a ban, alienating their customer base, and on what legal grounds such a ban could be implemented.
It is understood the communications companies will meet again with the task force this week to discuss working actively with Facebook to track and block any offensive material as an alternative solution.
“We also respectfully request that the Special Task Force provide details of its reasons, including the legal basis, for proposing the blocking of all social media platforms during the election period,” the joint Digicel-Vodafone letter read.
“We ask this since, on the face of it, it does not appear that either the Telecommunications Act 2005 or any other relevant legislation provides any legal authority for such a blanket ban on social media communications and that Constitutional questions may also arise from any such action.
“It is essential that these threshold legal questions are addressed before any further action is taken as we are also very concerned that, as any licensed network operator implementing the proposed “block” may themselves face severe legal consequences if the terms of the proposed interpretation are not properly defined and supported by a clear legal authority.”
Internet service providers were also worried about a lack of specificity in the move and whether all social media applications would be affected or just Facebook and how easily such a move could be worked around by tech-savvy consumers.
“As part of any Order, the [Regulator and] M.C.I.T. would need to provide a substantive technical document (Method of procedure- MoP) to clearly list which specific platforms and the type of blocking they require,” the letter read.
“There would need to be a detailed communications plan from the Government to inform the people of Samoa that access to social media platforms would be unavailable and that individuals would no longer be able to use social media platforms to communicate or access information.”
Sources told the Samoa Observer that the industry believes that blocking would not only be onerous due to the significant technical challenge in order to implement and impose an unfair cost burden on network operators.
In light of the extra costs, the internet giants requested that the Government dig into its own coffers to fund any ban.
They instead suggested the Government work collaboratively with social media platforms to prevent their abuse (something the Office of the Electoral Commissioner had said was already happening before the 9 April election).
With an estimated 100,000 users, the financial loss to the industry in terms of lost demand for data and potential refunds for customers who had bought pre-paid Facebook pages would be enormous, an industry source said.
