Women and girls are facing an alarming rise in online attacks, with statistics showing they are targeted 10 times more than men.
This includes online violence, cyberbullying, and harmful content, all of which are becoming serious concerns for the safety of women and young girls in Fiji.
This issue was addressed by Minister for Women, Children, and Poverty Alleviation to Social Protection, Lynda Tabuya, in an interview with fijivillage News.
Speaking about the growing problem of technology-facilitated violence, Tabuya says they have done a gender analysis of the Online Safety Act because it has become huge now.
She says technology-based violence has become a tool for a lot of online abuse, cyberbullying and online violence.
Tabuya says the Online Safety Commission should be given more teeth, so they can have legal powers to take down pages and posts, and get more information on trolls who use aliases and fake names to attack others.
When asked about actions being taken by the Ministry, Tabuya says that banning platforms like Telegram, where underage girls are reportedly posting explicit content, is high on their agenda, as well as they moving to ban anti-pornography content for children.
She says the tech companies should also be held accountable and ensure they work with the government to create safer online spaces.
