Fijians Blocked on Social Media for Criticizing Coalition Government

Concerns over freedom of expression have surfaced as social media users claim they are being blocked from the official Fiji Government Facebook page and the Twitter account of Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka after posting critical comments about government policies.

A Twitter user, identified as N-Bano, recently raised the issue, stating:

"Just realized Fiji govt fb page blocked me because I listed down in a comment on what all is not working well and politely. @slrabuka @SamisoniPareti don’t purport yourselves as flagbearers of free speech when you can’t handle constructive criticism.”

The comment was directed at Prime Minister Rabuka and Samisoni Pareti, the Director of Information, questioning their commitment to free speech while allegedly silencing dissenting voices on government platforms.

Other users have also shared screenshots showing their accounts blocked by the prime minister on social media.

This controversy comes as several members of the coalition government have recently attended media events, stating that the media is now free and freedom of speech is protected.

We have sent questions to Honorable Rabuka and Honorable Prasad for their response.