BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO
THE national government takes seriously the public demand for transparency in information dissemination.
This was uttered by Minister for Communication and Aviation Peter Shanel Agovaka on the matter of temporary suspension of Facebook.
Agovaka said in terms of Transparency in dissemination of information the government takes seriously the public demand for transparency in dissemination of information.
He said initiatives such as the weekly radio talk back shows, frequent press conference, the Prime Ministers weekly live address, distribution of Press Releases to stakeholders and the media are some of the testaments of the government’s proactive responses to the demand.
“The government believes these initiatives are made in the interest of creating a space for national conversation to take place. Yet despite of these, social media users continue to misinterpret and misconstrue public information to suit their own agendas.
The public is strongly encouraged to make use of both print and broadcast media and other social media platforms such as twitter and google plus to exercise their freedom of expression and gather information.
As stated above, the suspension of this social media platform is temporary while policy and lawmakers explore ways in which this can be regulated so that individuals can be held accountable for what they say in social media.
The government wishes to make it clear that freedom of expression remains intact and is not infringed upon. Other social media platforms are not affected; however this does not mean that they will not be monitored,” said Agovaka.
He stressed the above sentiments at the latest press conference of Temporary ban of Facebook.
