Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, played an
influential role in driving transparency and change during Nigeria’s
elections last year, as citizens shared images of verified results from
polling units around the country ahead of formal results being
announced.
“It’s not only Nigeria’s leadership, free expression, and innovation that are at stake. In internet law and policy, even when a law is beaten back,” Sesan and Olukotun said, “it often gets reanimated in legislatures across the globe.”
Source: http://qz.com/635647/nigerias-frivolous-anti-social-media-bill-just-wont-go-away/
President Muhammadu Buhari’s 10-month old
government recognizes both the advantages of the technology—as well as
the challenges it may present. This might have been what prompted the introduction of a so-called “social media bill”
to the Nigerian Senate a few months ago. Nigerian internet activists
and civil society groups have protested the bill’s vague wording and
possible draconian punishment for saying the wrong thing online.
Perhaps in a bid to counter the perception
Buhari’s government is readying to bite the hand that supported its path
to power, there was a high-profile political presence at the
continent’s leading social media confab, Social Media Week Lagos,
late last month. (Quartz was a media partner of the event.) Senate
president Bukola Saraki and the executive director of the Nigerian
Communications Commission were among the speakers.
The bill, officially titled, “An act to prohibit frivolous petitions; and other matters connected therewith“
is being challenged by activists as a backdoor route to penalize anyone
online who expresses dissent against the government, with vague and
disproportionate restrictions that do not strictly adhere to legitimate
purposes. If the bill passes, people convicted under the legislation
face jail time and fines of up to 2 million naira ($10,000).
Sen. Saraki was quick to try allay activists’ fears during Social Media Week, describing the bill as “dead on arrival“.
“As far as I am concerned, we are all on the same
side. It is like any bill, it has to go through processes,” Saraki
said. “I strongly believe that there is a role of the social media
platform in our governance. You’ve helped in the election, you’ve helped
in improving governance. So I don’t think there is anybody who will
want to ensure you don’t play that role.”
But activists have been paying attention to the machinations of the Nigerian senate on this matter.
Nigerian internet activist Gbenga Sesan described the bill as “vaguely worded, misguided legislation”.
Earlier
this month, Sesan and novelist Deji Olukotun issued a statement
detailing their concerns: “The language in the draft bill is so broad
that it’s not clear that internet users would even understand how to
comply with the law,” the statement read. “It would be difficult to
determine whether a post is intended to ‘set the public against’ a
vaguely defined group.”
Sesan and other civil society groups have good
reason to be cautious. Two weeks ago, at a public forum in Abuja to
discuss the bill, Nigeria’s chief justice Mahmud Mohammed expressed
support for the proposed legislation, saying both individuals and
corporate bodies would be safeguarded against frivolous abuse and
misnformation.
“The very use of the word frivolous, it connotes
unseriousness, ill-motivation and [is] suggestive of bad faith which is
not within the contemplation of the constitutional provision of freedom
of expression,” Mohammed said,
The internet has posed a vexing problem for governments
across the continent who find themselves faced with a form of media
expression and freedom that is difficult to control. Unlike shutting
down a few radio and TV stations or blocking distribution of newspapers,
governments are unable to shut down millions of social media users who
may or may not even be in legal jurisdiction of the government in
question. In countries like Congo Brazzaville, this weekend, and Uganda last month,
governments have blocked social media or switched off internet
communications altogether in a bid to prevent citizens accessing
information during the electoral process.
There is no suggestion today that Nigeria’s
government would enact any such restrictions, as Buhari will likely want
to avoid being associated with a bill which might remind older
Nigerians of his military government’s attempts to curtail press freedoms more than 30 years ago.
The concerns of today’s Nigerian political elite
seems to be that the millions of people using social media will somehow
misuse those platforms to attack individual politicians and government
bodies. It could set a dangerous precedent for Nigeria and Nigerians if
the bill gets passed in any form.
“It’s not only Nigeria’s leadership, free expression, and innovation that are at stake. In internet law and policy, even when a law is beaten back,” Sesan and Olukotun said, “it often gets reanimated in legislatures across the globe.”
Source: http://qz.com/635647/nigerias-frivolous-anti-social-media-bill-just-wont-go-away/
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