There are strong calls from concerned Fijians for the ‘ChatFiji Facebook’ forum to be shut down. The call comes after social influencer Esala Seru Yalewamama, known as ‘Ranadi Kei Viti’, died yesterday morning.
‘ChatFiji’, a local Facebook forum, is notorious for unregulated content, frequently hosting defamatory and derogatory posts about individuals. Circumstances surrounding Esala’s death are allegedly connected to the ‘ChatFiji Facebook’ forum. Assistant Commissioner of Police – Crime (ACP) Mesake Waqa confirmed that an investigation is underway.
“At this early stage, we cannot speculate on the circumstances surrounding the victim’s death because that will be part of the investigation process,” ACP Waqa said.
Despite the calls to shut down the forum, social media influencer and lawyer Jon Apted believes that doing so is not a permanent solution. “While that might deal with the toxic culture on one page, that is not a long-term solution since the bad behavior will merely be transferred to a new or different page,” he said.
He suggests that changing behavior through education, effective complaint handling, and prosecuting serious offenders is the way forward. “We need to take responsibility for keeping online platforms safe and creating a more respectful online culture. We should stop reacting to or sharing harmful posts. Where possible, we should call out and report more offensive posts.”
Apted noted that many people believe their freedom of speech allows them to say whatever they like online. “Freedom of speech is not an absolute right. It allows you the fullest freedom to express your views about issues and political figures, but it does not include the freedom to say nasty personal things about others or cause anyone harm.”
Apted is calling on the Fiji Human Rights, the Anti-Discrimination Commission, and the Online Safety Commission to educate the public on the limitations of freedom of speech. “In view of the increasing incidents of cyberbullying, the Government needs to urgently increase the resources available to the Commission,” he said.
The Fiji Women’s Rights Movement has also strongly condemned the repeated acts of psychological violence and character attacks. Executive director Nalini Singh is urging relevant authorities to dedicate more effort to monitoring acts of violence online. “Despite Esala’s death, people continue to dump hateful remarks online. When will we learn?” Singh said.
The movement calls for no impunity for online violence, especially against marginalized communities, and urges Fijians to exercise responsible online etiquette by refraining from engaging in hate speech.
The Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission echoed similar sentiments. Chairperson Pravesh Sharma stated, “The commission is concerned that those managing public-chat forums on social media are failing to moderate and control hate comments on their pages. The culpability lies with the administrators of the public chat-forum Facebook pages and those commenting. They must face the full brunt of the law. Freedom of speech carries ‘responsibility’ and has limitations.”
According to the 2013 Constitution under Section 17 (3)(b)(d):
(i) A law may limit or authorize the limitation of free speech to protect the reputation, privacy, dignity, rights or freedoms of other persons, including the right to be free from hate speech, whether directed against individuals or groups.
(b) The protection or maintenance of the reputation, privacy, dignity, rights or freedoms of other persons, including the right to be free from hate speech, whether directed against individuals or groups; and
(d) Preventing attacks on the dignity of individuals, groups of individuals or respected offices or institutions in a manner likely to promote ill will between ethnic or religious groups or the oppression of, or discrimination against, any person or group of persons.
Section 26 further states that every person is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection, treatment, and benefit of the law. Equality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms recognized in this Chapter or any other written law. No person should be unfairly discriminated against based on race, culture, ethnic or social origin, color, place of origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, birth, primary language, economic or social status, disability, age, religion, conscience, marital status or pregnancy, except to the extent that those opinions or beliefs involve harm to others or the diminishment of the rights or freedoms of others.