Micronesian nation Nauru says Facebook ban not political

The government of tiny nation Nauru has denied claims by its political opponents that it's temporary shutting down of social media site Facebook is an attempt to stop internal criticism.

Instead President Baron Waqa said in a statement on Wednesday that it was aimed at protecting children in the roughly 10,000 population from paedophiles.

He also denied it was aimed at stopping the leaking of information from the Australian refugee detention center located on the Micronesian island in the South Pacific where claims of child sexual assaults have been made.

"This decision has been made by government to protect its people from the abuse of the internet which has seen vulnerable individuals, especially young Nauruan girls," the President said in a statement.

"It is part of the government's efforts to curb the glorification of criminal activities and offences against Nauruan women and children through the posting of distressing images and footage of these individuals in compromising and dehumanizing positions."

But the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported opposition MP Matthew Batsiua said the move was a way of stopping Nauruans from using Facebook to criticize the government.

"The first reason they gave (for the closure) was due to a technical problem. Now it's all about porn," he said.

"This is all about (Justice minister) Adeang and his cronies being worried about the ever increasing number of people who have taken to social media to criticize his dictatorial style."

The island nation is just 21 square kilometers in size. Endi