YAREN (The Fiji Times/Radio New Zealand International/Pacific Media Watch): An Australian human rights advocate says the Nauru government's Facebook ban is the latest step in a very regressive trend towards reducing transparency and stifling dissent.
The Human Rights Law Centre's Director of Legal Advocacy, Daniel Webb, said Nauru had restricted access to the United Nations and NGOs, excluded international media by increasing visa fees and ousted its judicary.
He said Nauru's social media blackout needed to be understood in this context.
"There are other countries in the world that restrict access to social media; North Korea, China, Iran for instance. So I think in that sense Nauru is keeping questionable company. Over the last year and a bit, we've seen checks and balances on government power in Nauru eroded."
Daniel Webb said Australia should be a positive force for human rights protection in the Pacific region but instead its asylum seeker policies had been the catalyst for regression.
Radio NZ International also reported that an opposition Labour Party MP said the Nauru government was going backwards in terms of openness, freedom and respecting the democratic process.
The party's foreign affairs spokesperson, David Shearer, said the clampdown was based on self-interest..
The government said it wanted to end access to child pornography but the Nauru opposition said it was an attempt to stop criticism of the government's increasingly controversial actions.
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Pacific Media Watch
