By Haruna Salami
Protection from Internet Falsehoods, Manipulations and other related matters bill, otherwise called Social Media BIll, was roundly opposed by stakeholders at a public hearing in Abuja, Monday.
Speakers at the public hearing, including the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, AIT, National Human Rights, Amnesty International, NCC, Law Reform Commission, Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria, etc all spoke eloquently against the bill.
Chris Isiguzor, President of the NUJ, while opposing the bill said “the bill seeks pigeon hole Nigerians” adding that any time the right of Nigerians to free speech is impinged, “democracy has been threatened”.
He acknowledged that fake news is worse than COVID-19, but people must not be denied the right to freely express themselves.
Also opposing the bill, Lanre Arogundade of International Press Centre, IPC, reminded Nigerians that the country is a signatory to international conventions and the bill would contravene those laws.
The Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC , Umar Dambatta, said the bill will be difficult to be implemented as majority of the sites are located outside Nigeria; adding that the bill gives too much to the police.
On his part, Omoyele Sowore, faulted the bill on the ground that it is designed to protect those in power since they are the ones who determines what constitutes “fake news.”
He gave example of the time President Buhari was seriously sick and the media broke the news, but government did not take it lightly, adding that government is the greatest purvayor of fake news.
Only the Nigerian Army, NA and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, supported the bill, the NA obviously for security reasons.
The sponsor of the bill, Senator Mohammed Sami Musa, from Niger state, said he believes Nigeria needs a legal framework that would guide the use of her internet, because fake news not only become a virus, but an epidemic.
Musa said national security was his major concern adding that “social media sometimes impact negatively on our society”.
The right of minors and human dignity protection are his other concerns too, he said.
