by Georgina Maka’a
Facebook users in Solomon Islands have been warned that whilst they have the right to post or comment on the popular social media platform, they must do so with care and responsibility.
High Court judge Commissioner Augustine Aulanga issued the warning recently when he ordered two persons to pay compensation to a prominent Honiara businessman for defaming him on Facebook.
“While in this modern era, Facebook provides an efficient and fastest way of communication, the right to use and make comments on Facebook is not absolute but qualified and subjected to certain restrictions imposed by the law,” Aulanga said.
“The law, especially the law of defamation in tort, requires a Facebook user to take responsibility, accountability and caution when making publications on Facebook,” he added.
“This is to avoid an infringement of rights of another which can be actionable in the Court.”
In the two recent defamation cases, Aulanga ordered a young lawyer, Ellington Kabui, to pay $70,000 to Craig Day, chief executive officer of Solomon Motors Ltd.
He also ordered the Director of Government Communications Unit George Herming to pay Day $20,000 for a similar offence.
Day, an Australian-born Solomon Islands citizen, sued Kabui and Herming separately over posts and comments the duo made against him on Facebook.
Kabui referred to Day in his Facebook posts as a dangerous person, a professional con-man and a white supremacist.
Kabui failed to file a defence when taken to court, resulting in Day obtaining a default judgment against him.
Herming had commented during his Facebook exchanges with Day that the businessman had failed to settle the outstanding bills of his workers – a claim Day flatly rejected.
Commissioner Aulanga said Herming’s reference to the unpaid bills of Day’s employees can be construed to have ridiculed and disrepute the business and personal reputation of Day.
Prior to suing the two, Day requested both individuals to apologize to him publicly, but they refused.
