The Nigerian Senate has reintroduced a bill seeking a 150,000 Naira fine and/or 3 year jail sentence for the abuse of social media in the country.
Interestingly, the bill was jettisoned some years ago after Nigerians cried against its promulgation citing it as a draconian and anti-social media” law.
In this re-introduction, it is also proposing a 10 million Naira fine for media houses involved in peddling falsehood or misleading the public.
The bill, titled “Protection from internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill, 2019”, has already passed the first reading on the floor of the upper legislative chamber. It was sponsored by Mohammed Sani Musa . According to him, Musa, who is a first-time senator and heads the Committee on Senate Services, argued that “Nigeria needs the legislation because it would protect its fragile unity.”
“With this legislation, some journalists will look at it as if we are trying to bring a legislation that will gag the social media or the right to free press. It is a legislation that will guide how we can tolerate our activities on the social media.”
According to him, “False information has been disseminated so many times and it has caused so much chaos in different parts of the world. See what happened in Rwanda, the xenophobic attacks. You can pass information as long as you are passing to the reading public, facts and not creating them.”
In a swift reaction, a group, Paradigm Initiative, cautioned the Senate and the National Assembly against enacting oppressive legislations. According to group’s Executive Director, Gbenga Sesan, the bill contains elements that may affect the right to free expression of internet users in Nigeria.
Reactions on social media show that the bill if passed will affect the right of free speech in Nigeria.
What do you think?
