Judge: Verify info before posting

By BEVERLY PETER
A JUDGE has warned people to stop posting on social media information without verifying its authenticity.
National Court Judge Panuel Mogish said: “If you are unsure about something, do not post (it).
“The last thing to do is for somebody to post things they don’t know (much about).
“Nowadays, we have a lot of keyboard warriors.”
The case involved Laken Aigilo, 32, of Laiagam Papayuku village in Porgera, Enga, who in a Facebook post allegedly ridiculed a police officer for the actions he took to evict a woman from her home.
Aigilo’s lawyer, Roland Lenalia, said the post, “I am compelled by the circumstance to reasonably believe that (the police officer) is being bribed, induced or influenced by the NAC agent to act as such because their chances of defeating me in aforesaid court battle is slim or nil”, clearly showed that the circumstances led his client to believe the claim.
“It is clear that Laken Aigilo was compelled to believe that Senior Constable Derrick Tangua was bribed as he went into a property without a search warrant,” Lenalia said.
Judge Mogish said the Cybercrime Code Act was purposely to stop people from posting unverified claims or defamatory information on social media.
State lawyer Solomon Kuku said in relation to the element of intention, “Aigilo knows very well that such a post would attract negative comments and tarnish Tangua’s name”.
“The comment was not fair, it was shared and affected Tangua,” Kuku said.
Judge Mogish added that there was no dispute that Aigilo had posted the statement on his Facebook account.
“I have considered and find that the materials and evidence before the court is sufficient and Aigilo has a case to answer,” he said.
The matter returns today.