Civic space is rated as ‘narrowed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. Among concerns previously documented are threats to ban Facebook in the country and attempts to vilify civil society as well as LGBTQI+ groups. The authorities have also restricted access to information, including requests from the media. Peaceful protests have also been dispersed.
In May 2024, Jeremiah Manele, a former foreign minister and career diplomat, was elected the Solomon Islands’ new prime minister, winning 31 out of 49 votes from the newly elected National Parliament.
The April 2024 parliamentary election delivered no clear winner, and the incumbent government previously led by former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare won 15 seats, losing more than half of the seats it held going into the poll. After failing to secure the 26 seats required to form a new government, the two main opposition parties struck a coalition deal.
Sogavare did not run for prime minister, claiming he had been experiencing pressure from the United States and other Western allies after switching diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019. However, experts say Sogavare’s decision to withdraw was a result of the ruling coalition’s heavy loss in the parliamentary election.
Expression
Facebook temporarily blocks news outlet
In July 2024, Facebook reportedly temporarily blocked posts published by an independent online news outlet in Solomon Islands after incorrectly labelling its content as "spam".
According to RNZ Pacific, In-Depth Solomons, a member centre of the non-profit OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project), was informed by the platform that over 125 posts had been removed from its official page.
In-Depth Solomons had published three stories on Prime Minister Manele’s return from China, which were all removed as well.
Defining its posts as spam resulted in the removal for several hours of what appeared to be everything the news organisation had posted on Facebook since March 2023.
According to OCCRP, the outlet believed opponents of independent journalism in the country could behind the "coordinated campaign".
It said the platform also blocked its users from posting content from the outlet's website, indepthsolomons.com.sb, saying that such links go against the platform's Community Standards.
In-Depth Solomons was founded in 2023 and is a non-profit online news portal dedicated to investigative, in-depth and independent journalism in the Solomon Islands.
It had faced criticism from government supporters and Chinese allies, especially after a joint exposé with OCCRP on former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s unexplained wealth in April 2024. OCCRP also revealed that a major Solomon Islands newspaper received funds from the Chinese embassy for favourable coverage.
In-Depth Solomons editor Ofani Eremae said the content removal "may have been the result of a coordinated campaign by critics of his newsroom to file false complaints to Facebook en masse".
Two other independent media outlets in Solomon Islands – Tuvali News and SBM Online – also told BenarNews some of their stories had been taken down by Facebook.
Facebook is by far the most widely and frequently used social media platform in the Pacific. Its representative Cheryl Seeto said the content was removed due to a technical error and has since been restored.