Papua New Guinea (PNG) Communications Minister Sam Basil said, Facebook will be banned for a month while the government identifies fake accounts and attempts to block fake news.

Basil said the one-month shutdown would "allow information to be collected" about people using the social media site for nefarious purposes. Users who upload pornography and defamatory information will be identified and removed from the networking site. This will allow genuine people with real identities to use the social network responsibly".

He also said tech experts in PNG were capable of developing a local alternative to Facebook.

"If there need be then we can gather our local applications developers to create a site that is more conducive for Papua New Guineans to communicate within the country and abroad as well," Basil was quoted as saying by local media.

No timeframe was given on the shutdown, although some reports suggested it could coincide with the capital, Port Moresby, hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit later this year.

A spokesperson for Facebook said US Company had reached out to PNG authorities and were "working to address their concerns".