There is no going back on the planned sanitation of the social
media, the federal government has maintained.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said
government will not back down on the proposal.
The Minister, who spoke in Abuja during an audience with the
online publishers, insisted no amount of criticism will deter the
government from going ahead with it.
He stressed that it is the right thing to do as Nigeria was not
alone on the measure.
The minister however said government was yet to come out with
the modalities for the sanitization, saying it was not going to be
a unilateral process.
Besides, he said there are many options open to government in
regulating the social media apart from enacting new laws.
According to him: “In recent days, as you must be aware, the
campaign has assumed a heightened dimension, especially after we
announced, on Oct. 29th 2019, our plan to sanitise the social
media.
“Let me say, straight on, that the intense debate – and the
debate
has indeed been intense – that has been generated by our
announcement, is a welcome development. This is because the
announcement has pushed the issue of the social media to the front
burner. We can only benefit from such debate.
“We have been monitoring the debate. Some analysts and
commentators have supported our plan while others have opposed
it.
“An interesting part of the debate has been that even those who
oppose the regulation have acknowledged the dangers inherent in the
irresponsible use of the social media, especially by anarchists and
non-patriots.
“We thank everyone who has spoken out, and we hope the debate
will continue.”
The minister also allayed fears of muzzling the media and
stifling free speech.
He said: “In the first instance, we have not told anyone how we
plan to go about the regulation. This is because this will not be a
unilateral process. It will involve all stakeholders coming
together to chart the path forward. Let me announce here that we
have just kick-started the process.
“We have dispatched letters inviting representatives of the
media, civil society, technology and security experts, online
publishers, bloggers, relevant agencies of government, etc, for
this purpose.
“In the second instance, there are many options open to us in
regulating the social media. Apart from enacting new laws, we can
also leverage on technology, working with the big techies like
Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Instagram to check the spread of fake
news and hate speech.
“It is therefore premature for anyone to say ‘Oh, there are
enough laws already to deal with social media deviants’. In
essence, the committee we plan to set up will determine the best
option for us to use.
“Again, the fear of stifling free speech or muzzling the media
is
totally unfounded. We have no such plan. As we speak, people are
on the social media criticising the Administration.
“We have no problem with that because it is part of democracy.
People are using the traditional media to criticise the
Administration.
“Why not? This is a democracy and there should be plurality of
opinions. But our concern has to do with the abuse of the social
media by those who are bent on spreading fake news and hate speech,
and the dangers inherent in that for our national peace and unity.
We have no hidden agenda.
“As I have said many times, no responsible government will sit
by and allow fake news and hate speech to dominate its media space
because of the capacity of this menace to exploit our national
fault lines to set us against each other and trigger a national
conflagration.
“Finally, and for the avoidance of doubt, while we welcome a
robust debate on this issue, the criticisms in certain quarters
will not stop us from going ahead with our efforts to sanitize the
social media space.
“It is the right thing to do in the circumstances. And we are
not alone in doing this. Countries around the world are as
concerned
as we are, and they are doing something about the social
media.
“The list is long: Germany, UK, Singapore, China, South Korea,
Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, etc.”