The NetRights Coalition (NRC) has condemned the call for the blanket social media regulation in Nigeria.
The coalition in a statement issued Friday expressed dismay over the statement credited to a ministerial nominee and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Mr. Dele Alake during his ministerial screening last Wednesday.
Alake had during the screening said: “I will recommend the strengthening of our regulations and the applications of those laws. The laws must be tested so we can know the proficiency of those regulations…..I will support anything that comes from this hallowed chamber that promotes that course of action….If there are laws, bills and motions in line with this, please be sure of our full cooperation.”
The coalition noted that his disposition spells danger for freedom of expression in Nigeria.
It stressed that it expected Alake, an experienced media practitioner himself to understands the risks.
It noted: “The Nigeria Senate has a terrible record of initiating poorly thought-out, control-seeking social media regulations.”
The coalition recalled that in 2015, the Senate introduced a bill called the Frivolous Petition Bill which sought to repress online speech, saying the bill was withdrawn from the Senate due to heavy criticism from citizens, civil society, and various stakeholders.
It added: “In 2019, the Senate came up with an even more insidious attempt to regulate social media through the Protection From Internet Falsehood and Manipulation Bill, proposing to grant the Police the power to determine what constitutes malicious and false information and to order network shutdowns.
“This attempt was also resisted by citizens and was withdrawn at the public hearing after it had passed second reading in the Senate.”
The coalition stressed that freedom of expression is important for inclusive participation in governance and society, which allows citizens to seek and circulate information, ideas, comments and opinions and hold those in authority to account.
“As such, it is imperative that no blanket support for regulating social media should be made by any government official, ministerial nominee or otherwise.
“Rather, extensive consultations across multiple stakeholder groups to understand the peculiarities of the digital environment and the need to protect the civic space to ensure that all international standards for fulfilling human rights obligations are adhered to by the Nigerian government,” it said.