Definitely not because of "<p><pre><code> A few weeks ago, the Solomon Islands Government faced criticism over documents leaked on Facebook that showed how COVID-19 funds for economic recovery had been spent.
Ruth Liloqula, the head of the anti-corruption group Transparency Solomon Islands, said she believed such leaks were the real reason behind the ban, which she said was "an indication that our Government is becoming very authoritarian".
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For island nations, it's not as bad an idea as it might sound. For all the bullshit about connectedness, the basic physical human urge social media stimulates is for conflict.
All the other things like sentimentality, status signalling, attention seeking, are parts of the underlying addiction to conflict because in a lot of hind-brains, that sensation represents opportunity. It's a vice.<p>Outright bans are clumsy, but imposing a cost or bar to entry, like most societies do with alcohol and drugs, might be constructive.<p>I'm tired of meeting friends and family in person and listening to them spend 20mins one-way unloading all the shit they read on the internet. They're so indexed on things that aren't physically present in the moment it's like talking someone through a psychosis or reasoning with someone with schizophrenia. It's a mass hysteria machine. When I talk to some people, it's like I'm not even talking to people anymore, I'm talking to some node of the internet.
We've basically invented language cancer, nice one guys.
I loathe Facebook, but I don't see how this is going to help. It might help a bit in the short term, but will it really help long term? Even if it does, how many social networks are they going to ban? Surely someone else will take Facebook's place?<p>Personally I will be happy if Facebook goes away, but I don't know if this is the right way to do it.
It would be really interesting if this resulted in a natural A/B experiment, i.e. by comparing the Solomon's with another pacific island group, we could tease apart social phenomena like cohesion, polarisation, distracted parenting etc.<p>Shit would get real if we could compare two larger nations, Hungary and Poland for example, to see if any negative effects could be reversed.<p>Of course FB will come up with all manner of excuses why they can't possibly do this, but here is the rub: if their products were actually good for society they should want to do this sort of research.
This is going to be a bit of a problem for me. I've been working on putting together a computer lab for a school on one of the remote Solomon Islands (as in, fly to Honiara, take a small plane to Lata, then charter a boat for a couple days). Our primary contact lives part of the year in Honiara, and Facebook Messenger is his best means of contact, since it works when almost nothing else, including email, does out there.<p>People underestimate just how good Facebook's network (computer network, not social network) is.
I read the article and this seems just like government testing the waters for larger censorship plans.<p>On the topic of Facebook: I've found a lot more instances extremism, divisiveness, and large groups attacking people/companies on Twitter and Reddit.
How did memes, misinformation, fake news and cyber bullying propagate before Facebook and other forms of social media? I know it happened but I don't remember it being such a high-profile issue.
Banning something never works. It only puts less able people in disadvantage. If they want to stop people from using Facebook, maybe they should invest in more transparent media and look why people prefer to use Facebook over different means of communication.
If you want to ban something, it means that you assume that you know better than everyone else and that's a breeding ground for fascism. If you ban one thing, why not banning another? Power is a drug.
Why can't Facebook just have a membership fee?
I don't mind paying a small amount. It would drastically reduce their user base but it might just be better for society as bot accounts would be difficult to make, younger children with responsible parents won't be able to join (it's a monstrous website that is full of frauds, conspiracy theorists etc and children shouldn't use it IMO ).<p>I know it's wishful thinking.
Before everyone calls this insane and reactionary, please do remember that Facebook has teams of employees who actively court favor with local politicians and help them craft social media campaigns for election / re-election. There is a LOT hidden behind the curtain.<p>This isn’t like your mom telling you that you’re not allowed to go on MySpace.
I did a quick google search as there was scant detail in the actual article itself.<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/17/solomon-islands-government-preparing-to-ban-facebook" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/17/solomon-island...</a><p>Some things that stood out to me:<p>> Facebook has also been cited as a factor in riots that gripped the capital, Honiara, in 2019. The social media platform was alight with anti-government rhetoric in the days after Sogavare’s election and was used by rioters to organise and congregate.<p>> But observers say China has influenced the government’s decision. Facebook has been, officially at least, banned in China for more than a decade.
> In September 2019 Solomon Islands switched from recognising Taiwan to instead embrace diplomatic relations with Beijing. The Solomons are home to a significant Chinese population and Beijing’s influence in the Melanesian archipelago – with the exception of Malaita, the most populous island and which remains loyal to Taiwan – has been steadily growing.<p>The guardian also has a link to a solomon times article:<p><a href="https://www.solomontimes.com/news/solomon-islands-cabinet-passes-ban-on-facebook/10421" rel="nofollow">https://www.solomontimes.com/news/solomon-islands-cabinet-pa...</a><p>> Minister Agovaka told Solomon Times Online (STO) that this temporary ban was made because of the controversial issues raised via Facebook.
> “Abusive languages against Ministers, Prime Minister, character assasination, defamation of character, all these are issues of concerns”, Agovaka says.
90% of my comments here are bashing Facebook, Zuckerberg and similar, but I will oppose with equal force any attempt of a cleptocratic government to censor to stop people exposing their shitty actions.
TRUTH is always suppressed in the name of trust/loyalty/compliance/privacy/conspiracy/discipline/patriotism/sedition/job/national security/unity/intellectual property
Here are some facts before you make any conclusions based on a cursory reading of a news article:<p>- ABC News Australia is funded by the Australian government<p>- There are Facebook groups named "Hate China" in support of Honk Kong, these groups are free to operate, why are they not removed under hate speech laws? [0] [1]<p>- Separatists (Anti-Communists if you read NYT) use social media platforms to create violent mobs, beating anyone in support of Hong Kong unity [2] [3]<p>- Facebook bans groups and individuals in the US almost immediately if they lean far-right or otherwise disagree with establish norms set by organizations like SPLC (not laws)<p>- Facebook and Google see themselves as stop gap to prevent bad ideas from forming in the first place or "to prevent the next Trump situation." [4]<p>- Facebook spies on millions of Americans and sells that information, what would it do to the citizens of a foreign nation?<p>[0] <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hate.china/" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/hate.china/</a><p>[1] <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/We-hate-China-529966657164014/" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/We-hate-Ch...</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.facebook.com/leeminhohkpalace/videos/813206585716130" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/leeminhohkpalace/videos/81320658571...</a><p>[3] <a href="https://www.facebook.com/chinadaily/videos/2452021925065490" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/chinadaily/videos/2452021925065490</a><p>[4] <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ProjectVeritas/videos/2445258202376795/" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/ProjectVeritas/videos/2445258202376...</a>
I wish the EU banned their shit as well. We have other means of communication. We don't need US companies influencing our lives & decision making.