Internet & Online Safety · Papua New Guinea
Online safety & content laws in Papua New Guinea (2026)
Papua New Guinea shaded by its internet & online safety status
Papua New Guinea's online safety regime is anchored by the Cybercrime Code Act 2016, which criminalises a broad range of online conduct including cyberbullying and electronic defamation (up to 25 years' imprisonment), but no comprehensive dedicated online-safety law analogous to the EU DSA or UK OSA is in force. The government has issued executive-level directives to block harmful and pornographic content, and is consulting on a Social Media Policy 2025 that would mandate biometric age-verification via a national digital-ID for platform access, but formal legislation has not yet passed. In March 2025 Facebook was briefly blocked by police using the Anti-Terrorism Act 2024, without notifying the ICT regulator, drawing parliamentary censure.
Key points
The primary in-force instrument criminalising online conduct: unauthorised access, hacking, identity theft, cyberbullying, and electronic defamation (Section 21(2), penalty up to 25 years or K1 million fine). The Supreme Court upheld the Act's constitutionality in August 2024, rejecting a freedom-of-expression challenge.
The National Executive Council decided in September 2023 to block pornographic and harmful websites. In May 2026, the Acting ICT Minister directed NICTA to fully implement this decision within 30 days, extending obligations to ISPs, resellers, and Low-Earth-Orbit satellite operators; non-compliance triggers enforcement under Section 244 of the NICT Act.
The government released a draft Social Media Policy 2025 proposing to require users aged 14+ to register via the SevisPass biometric digital-ID before accessing platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and X. Formal legislation had not passed as of early 2026; government was in consultation with Meta on age-verification implementation.
On 25 March 2025 police blocked Facebook for approximately one day using the Counter-Terrorism Act 2024, citing disinformation concerns, without notifying NICTA or the ICT Minister. The Parliamentary Committee on Communications subsequently summoned the Police Commissioner, NICTA CEO, and DICT Secretary, and stated it would not support outright social-media bans.
NICTA, established under the NICT Act and operating since 2010, is the sole converged regulator for ICT licensing and compliance, including internet safety. It facilitates the PNG Safer Internet Committee (PNGSIC) and administers cybercrime and cybersecurity functions; enforcement powers include show-cause notices and licence penalties.
No platform-liability or content-moderation duty-of-care framework equivalent to the EU DSA currently exists. The proposed Social Media Policy 2025 would require platforms to register locally and cooperate with age-verification, but this has not been legislated; platforms currently face no statutory takedown or transparency obligations.
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