Joe Barak

A video appears on Facebook showing a person accused of sorcery being tortured. Sharing it may alert police and help secure the person’s rescue, as well as raising awareness about this terrible form of human rights abuse. But sharing can also circulate the victim’s face and location to new audiences, potentially exposing them to further harm and turning their suffering into a public spectacle. What should someone who sees such a post do?

About the Paper This discussion paper provides analysis of newspaper reports from Papua New Guinea around two different but interconnected forms of violence: intergroup violence and sorcery accusation–related violence. The authors conclude that both types of violence are fueled by money, politics, the widespread availability of guns and the normalization of violence, the erosion of traditional and local forms of leadership and regulation, and public service delivery failures.

The online sharing of gruesome images and videos showing dead and dismembered bodies on social media is commonplace in Papua New Guinea (PNG). For instance, when a horrific massacre took place in Enga province in February this year, it was images shared on WhatsApp that alerted many to the violence. Social media in general has also helped proliferate violence, such as in January, when riots erupted in Port Moresby and other cities across PNG.