Batiwale Caught in Online Chat Defamation

A police report has been lodged against the newly appointed  Online Safety  Commissioner, Filipe Batiwale, for alleged defamation of character.

The police report was lodged at the Nausori Police Station by the complainant (name withheld) on February 9, 2025.

The complainant and Mr Batiwale are from the same village.

It is alleged that Mr Batiwale had communicated false and defaming information about the complainant to a third party through Messenger, a violation of the responsibilities of the position of Online Safety Commissioner that he had already applied for.

The vacancy was advertised on the ministry’s online recruitment portal in August 2024.

The alleged electronic communication took place between Mr Batiwale and the complainant’s indirect work manager in November 2024, just two months before taking office.

The role of the online commissioner is a taxpayers’ funded position.

Mr Batiwale is tasked with responsibility of ensuring Fijians are protected on digital platforms.

Apparently, this was not the case.

Mr Batiwale’s appointment was announced by the Minister for Communications, Manoa Kamikamica, on February 3, 2025.

The screenshots of the conversation on Messenger were obtained by Shine a Light.

The Facebook profile that was allegedly used by Mr Batiwale is no longer active.

It is alleged that Mr Batiwale had spread rumours about the complainant's sexuality, claiming that the complainant was ‘bisexual’.

In the iTaukei language, Mr Batiwale had allegedly said that the complainant shared intimate relationships with men in their village.

“Era dau talanoa i nakoro na tagane e dau kauta. Tagane erau tobo vata. Recently, au rogoca ni rau lasa tiko qo kei dua na sotia. (Men in the village that he has been with talk about it. Men who are caught with him. Recently, I heard that he is in an intimate relationship with a soldier),” he said on Messenger.

The complainant is married with two children.

He denied claims by Mr Batiwale. Instead, he said because of the rumours spread by Mr Batiwale, his relationship with his wife was affected, as well as his mental and emotional state.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Communications, Mr Kamikamica directed questions on the issue to the Online Safety Commission (OSC).

“Please do note that the matter you have been enquiring on is a matter that has been identified by Police as a civic case,” he said in his emailed response.

Our attempts to get a comment from Mr Batiwale were unsuccessful.

Email sent on Wednesday remain unanswered.

We had also visited his office yesterday morning, but he was unavailable.

The incident is a poor reflection on the commissioner and the commission.

It erodes the public’s level of trust and satisfaction in the services provided by the commission.

WHAT TRANSPIRED 

In October last year, Mr Batiwale was in contact with a manager at the complainant’s workplace.

The initial Messenger conversation was around the appointment of a new Online Safety Commissioner.

Both parties had applied for the vacancy, which was advertised on August 2024.

In November, Mr Batiwale had started to enquire about the complainant, through the complainant's manager.

In the process, Mr Batiwale had allegedly asked personal questions about the complainant, whether he was a relative of the manager, whether he had resigned from his current employment and offered another.

Mr Batiwale then allegedly proceeded to insinuate that the complainant was bisexual.

The complainant later learned about this conversation in February this year, which prompted him to lodge a formal complaint with the Police and Mr Kamikamica.

“Who knows who else he has been spreading rumours to about me,” the complainant said.

“What he did affected my family; my wife was affected too when I showed her the messages. At one point she asked to visit her family, which was peculiar because we are always together.”

The complainant’s wife said at first, she was shocked and confused because of the messages she read about her husband.

“I didn’t know how to see my husband," she said.

"I was emotional too. What he (Mr Batiwale) did is not a good reflection of a person with good characteristics, and he holds that kind of position,” she said.

In his formal complaint to Mr Kamikamica, the complainant said the unfounded claims by Mr Batiwale were damaging to his personal and professional reputation.

THE COMMISSIONER 

The position of the Online Safety Commissioner was vacant when the first office holder, Anne Dunn, resigned in 2021.

Following Ms Dunn’s resignation, Tajeshwari Devi was then appointed commissioner in-charge by the previous Government.

She was later given the acting role under the Coalition Government.

However, Mr Batiwale was successful and appointed.

When questioned about the transparency of Mr Batiwale’s appointment, Mr Kamikamica said: “the details of Mr Batiwale’s interview are confidential, but he was certainly appointed on merit”.

Mr Batiwale is a senior lawyer with a current practicing certificate in Australia.

He specialises in commercial law, cyber law, and digital asset protection with an experience of seven years, according to the ministry’s Facebook post on the appointment of Mr Batiwale.

EXPECTATIONS 

As commissioner of the OSC, Mr Batiwale is expected to promote a safe online culture and environment.

A key feature of the job description is that the successful candidate must be of good character.

“Applicants for employment must be of good character, with a background that demonstrates their commitment to the civil service values contained in the Fijian Constitution.”

It is important to note that another important responsibility of the commissioner is to ‘register, investigate and provide advice on complaints in relation to electronic communication that cause harm, received by the commission’.

However, the complainant only lodged the complaint with Police.

Police had informed the commission of the complaint and that it was now a civil case.

The OSC only actions complaints if they are lodged with the commission.

The commission was established under the Online Safety Act of 2018.

It is responsible for the promotion of online safety and digital interaction.

As the commissioner, Mr Batiwale is expected to “oversee the promotion of responsible online behaviour and safety, promoting a safe online culture and environment that addresses cyberbullying, cyberstalking, internet trolling and exposure to offensive or harmful content, particularly in respect of children, deterring harm caused to individuals by electronic communications and providing an efficient means of redress for such individuals”.

Feedback: ivamere.nataro@fijisun.com.fj