PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA — As concerns over Facebook rise across Asia, a South Pacific nation is considering temporarily shutting down Facebook, supposedly to figure out how to regulate it.
The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier reports that the government of Papua New Guinea wants to ban the social network for a full month, citing "research" and "analysis."
Communication Minister Sam Basil claims it's to crackdown on fake users and filter out information that's false or misleading.
But some are doubting the government's intentions, saying the move seems fishy.
ABC Online reports officials have been pretty sensitive to criticism, and at least one opposition MP thinks the ban may be used to weed out and silence dissenters on social media.
Basil didn't seem to mind a permanently Facebook-less Papua New Guinea either, and thinks making the nation its own social network site might be a good idea.
