31 Oct 2002

Fiji concerned by defamation and slander on Internet

12:02 pm on 31 October 2002

Concern is increasing in Fiji about the use of the Iternet to circulate defamatory and slanderous statements.

The Daily Post reports that in the latest case an e-mail has been circulated detailing alleged personal involvements of people, including a prominent Suva citizen.

One of the victims, Suva Mayor, Chandu Umaria, says such malicious activities show it's time a security system was put in place to police what goes through the Internet.

In another case, a victim who went to a lawyer had no success when they could not trace the source of a defamatory statement.

A Suva lawyer, Devanesh Sharma, says there is legal protection against slander and defamation but on the Internet the problem is finding the perpetrator.

Even when the source of the e-mail can be traced, it is often found to be an anonymous person who used an Internet cafe.

A lawyer in the attorney general's office says there are no laws regulating the Internet in Fiji but a legal framework is being drawn up which deals with telecommunications advances such as the Internet.