Online Safety Commission condemns homophobic remarks about a child who is fighting for his life

The Online Safety Commission has condemned the homophobic and harmful remarks made on social media about a child who is fighting for his life.

Commissioner Filipe Batiwale says this is happening when the family is seeking help for their child’s medical care and they should be met with compassion and support — not hate and abuse.

Batiwale says the Commission’s powers under the current Online Safety Act 2018 does not give them the legal authority to take down Facebook groups or content on digital platforms.

He says many people think that they can remove content or shut down pages as this sits with the respective social media platforms.

Batiwale says this can be frustrating but it is important to understand that as a statutory body in a democracy, they are bound by the laws.

He says recognising these gaps, the Commission has initiated a legislative review of the Online Safety Act 2018 in partnership with the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Fiji Law Reform Commission.

This review is focused on analysing current gaps in the law, exploring whether the law should be extended to cover a broader range of online harms, including hate-based abuse and gender-based cyber abuse; considering stronger regulatory, investigative and enforcement powers.

The review will also focus on introducing statutory obligations for digital service providers to detect and remove harmful content, improving pathways for children to access justice safely, facilitating better cross-border cooperation with other online safety and law enforcement agencies and imposing a duty of care on platforms and internet service providers to prevent online harm.

The Commissioner says this is how laws are changed in a democracy and it takes time, and it must be thoughtful.

They are urging people not to screenshot and share harmful posts or comments.