LocationsIn their joint op-ed for National Women's Day 2026, UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Nicholas Booth, and the Director of the National GBV Secretariat, Ms. Diane Kambanei, highlight the threat that technology facilitated abuse poses to PNG's women and girls
When Online Abuse Silences PNG’s Young Women
March 23, 2026
Technology facilitated abuse poses a particular risk to young women in Papua New Guinea
UNDP Papua New Guinea/Clive Hawigen
In Papua New Guinea, the internet was supposed to be a space of opportunity — a platform for young people to showcase talent, connect, and be heard. Yet recent events have shown that it can quickly become a place of fear, especially for young women.
During the recent Miss Pacific Islands 2026 competition, Miss Papua New Guinea Iampela Popena faced a torrent of racist comments and online attacks. These were not just casual insults; they were coordinated, targeted, and deeply personal, attacking her appearance, background, and family. The backlash shocked the nation and prompted public condemnation from government leaders, but it also exposed a worrying trend: technology-facilitated abuse is becoming a barrier to participation, not just an unfortunate byproduct of social media.
Unfortunately, this online abuse is not a new phenomenon for our representative at the Miss Pacific Islands. Last year, PNG’s representative May Torowi Hasola faced intense online attacks, but the hostility was largely confined to local audiences. This year, the dynamics have shifted dramatically. The abuse has spilled across borders, with social media users in PNG targeting Tonga and other Pacific nations with racist and derogatory comments, while at the same time receiving vitriolic backlash from these countries. This transnational cycle of online hatred shows how technology can escalate conflicts far beyond national boundaries, leaving young people caught in a storm of cyberbullying on both sides.
Digital platforms may be global, but their consequences are local. Young women in particular feel the weight of constant surveillance and judgment. Studies across the Pacific show that cyberbullying, harassment, and image-based abuse disproportionately affect girls, undermining confidence and limiting opportunities.
In PNG, social media has increasingly been used not just to spread anger, but to inflict direct real-world violence. In several cases, women accused of infidelity, witchcraft, or “bringing shame” to their communities have had their photos and personal details shared on Facebook and other online platforms. This has been followed by calls for punishment that quickly led to harassment or mob violence offline. At the same time, graphic videos of women being tortured or violently punished for alleged infidelity or witchcraft circulate widely on WhatsApp, transforming real-world abuse into viral content.
Rather than exposing injustice in ways that protect victims, the circulation of these videos normalizes violence and keeps women in a constant state of fear about the real-world consequences of online targeting. When a post names a person, shows their face, and tells others what to do to them, the line between speech and incitement disappears — and in PNG’s tightly networked communities, the consequences can be immediate and brutal.
At the 5th National Mock Youth Parliament supported by UNDP, UNFPA and OHCHR, over 60 aspiring Papua New Guinean youth leaders learned about cybersecurity and prevention of technology facilitated abuse.
United Nations Development Programme/Seru Kepa
This has broader implications for Papua New Guinea. If our youth — particularly young women — are discouraged from public participation due to fear of online attacks threatening their physical safety, the country loses more than individual potential. We lose leaders, innovators, cultural ambassadors, and voices that could shape a more equitable, resilient society. Opportunities in leadership, media, arts, and international forums may go unpursued, limiting PNG’s presence and influence on regional and global stages.
Addressing this requires more than condemnation. Governments, civil society, and tech platforms must work together to create safe digital spaces. Policies, digital literacy programs, and culturally grounded online safety standards are urgently needed to protect young people, especially women, from abuse and discrimination.
Encouragingly, efforts to address this challenge are already underway across the Pacific with various UN agencies responding to the growing epidemic of online abuse. For example, UNDP supports the ‘Pacific Women in Power Forum’, which connects women parliamentarians and parliamentary staff from 14 Pacific countries for mentoring, solidarity, and skills-building and equips them to manage online harassment and respond to disinformation and coordinated attacks.
Furthermore, UNICEF facilitates ‘Pacific Girls in ICT Online Safety Trainings’, which train young people aged 12-24 on digital literacy and online safety in seven Pacific countries, including PNG. UNDP is also developing targeted interventions ahead of the 2027 PNG national election to address technology-facilitated abuse against women in public life. The initiative will link emerging women political candidates with youth digital leaders while providing AI-enabled monitoring and support pathways where online abuse may breach the Cybercrime Code Act 2016.
This work demonstrates that with appropriate support, women can remain visible, vocal, and effective in public life despite online hostility. By combining preparation, oversight, and support, PNG can celebrate its talent on the world stage without putting young people at unnecessary risk of abuse or intimidation.
The Miss Pacific Islands controversy should be a wake-up call. Our online world must reflect the values we aspire to as a nation: respect, equality, and empowerment. If it doesn’t, we risk silencing the very voices that can carry PNG forward.