A bill to tackle online abuse and cyber crime is being introduced by the Tu’i’onetoa government.
It aims to make it an offence to post content that is offensive, threatening, defamatory and causes distress.
Known as the Internet Abuse Offences Bill 2020, the Prime Minister said this was “a very important bill for the poor people of the nation.”
Tu’i’onetoa told local media the people had been bullied and intimidated on social media.
He said some people created fake accounts on Facebook to hide their identity while defaming others.
“It’s going from worse to worst,” he said.
The bill, containing 26 clauses and 19 pages, is expected to be submitted to Parliament this week.
The bill came after a move by the Late ‘Akilisi Pohiva government last year to shut down Facebook after vicious allegations of a sexual nature against the royal family was posted to Facebook.
Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva said at the time the government had been long concerned about people abusing Facebook.