It has been used to correct misconceptions that Tuition Fee Free money has been going to schools. Teachers from remote schools who have not been paid for months sent their details using the social media network for verification.

With crowd-sourced information from Facebook, Papua New Guineans have been able to see the problems in health, education and the economy. 

Dr Sam Yokopua and Dr Glen Mola, two of the most senior doctors in the country, use Facebook to highlight the most critical shortages affecting Port Moresby General Hospital.

Is it fake news?  No.

In case you have not noticed, thousands of Papua New Guineans use Facebook for business transactions. That’s where they make their money. Large businesses use Facebook as a way to reach out to their customers.

How do you plan to compensate for the 12 month disconnection with their customer base?

Banning Facebook will be a huge embarrassment for the country that hosted APEC. The high ideals of ‘digital connectivity’ and ‘digital inclusiveness’ will be thrown out of the window.

A lot of governments want to ban Facebook. But it really has not worked.

China, North Korea and Iran are on the list. While Iran has a ban on Facebook, people, including the Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, use Twitter as an alternative. Point is you can’t get away from social media.

There is a general agreement that there are a lot of people who use Facebook to spread fake news.

They should be investigated and prosecuted using the cybercrime act  if law enforcement has the capacity to do it.

But to ban Facebook has wide-ranging implications including direct government interference on the freedom of speech of Papua New Guineans and their right to hold their leaders to account.

The best things to do are:

Do the right thing by the people

Be transparent. If there is a problem acknowledge it, fix it and correct misinformation.

Be truthful. You can’t go wrong in the age of social media.