FIJI is facing increasingly serious forms of online harm as the Online Safety Commission works with a reduced budget and a growing demand for more specialised responses.
Online Safety Commissioner Filipe Batiwale said the challenge was no longer simply the volume of complaints, but the seriousness and complexity of cases reaching them.
He said the commission received 1609 complaints in 2025, with more than half involving cyberbullying, harassment or defamatory electronic communications.
About 65 per cent originated on Meta platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram.
“We are seeing more serious complaints now,” Mr Batiwale said.
“These are not always arguments between people on Facebook. Some matters involve children, intimate images, threats, exploitation, fake accounts, multiple platforms and digital evidence that can disappear very quickly.
“That changes the kind of response that is required from us.”
He said their annual budget had decreased from about $1.5 million to $1.1m, despite the increasing complexity of their work.
“I am not saying that every problem is solved by giving an agency more money.
“But if Fiji wants a stronger online-safety system, we also have to be realistic about what it takes to build and operate one.”
