Ba business owner Sevanaia Levuidali has filed a complaint with the Online Safety Commission (OSC) against Minister for Fisheries and Forestry Alitia Bainivalu, accusing her of cyber-bullying after she posted a video of him falling off a chair during a public consultation.
When asked by fijivillage News whether the Commission has received Levuidali’s complaint, Commissioner Filipe Batiwale says the Commission respects the privacy and confidentiality of individuals who approach the organisation and does not ordinarily confirm or discuss individual complaints without an appropriate basis.
Batiwale says the Commission treats matters brought to its attention impartially and in accordance with the Online Safety Act 2018, irrespective of the individuals involved.
Meanwhile, Batiwale has also requested that the circumstances surrounding a laughing reaction attributed to the Commission’s official facebook account be established, after it appeared under a comment about Levuidali falling off a chair.
The laughing reaction appeared under a comment on a video shared by Bainivalu, showing Levuidali falling off a chair while making a submission to the Joint Committee on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2026 in Ba.
Levuidali has also filed a report at the Ba Police Station against Bainivalu over the incident, with Police confirming the report to fijivillage News.
The complaint follows Bainivalu’s posting of a video on her official facebook page showing Levuidali falling off his chair while making a submission to the Joint Committee on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2026 at the Ba Market Bure.
The video is taken from a Fiji Government livestream of the public consultation.
Speaking to fijivillage News, Levuidali questions why Bainivalu chooses to share the footage showing him falling off the chair.
He raises concerns about cyber-bullying and the use of social media by public figures, also referring to previous incidents involving members of Government.
In response, Bainivalu says she does not intend to ridicule Levuidali and has been posting videos of the public consultations over the past week.
She says Levuidali is not singled out, adding that the video also shows the part of his submission in which he ridicules the panel.
Bainivalu says the consultations are public hearings that allow people to engage in different forms of discussion.
She adds that it is unfortunate Levuidali falls off his chair and says the videos are intended to show the public that the consultations are open to everyone, regardless of whether they sit, stand or speak while facing away from the panel.
Bainivalu also says people should prepare themselves well before attending the consultations.
