The "#saynotosocialmediabill" campaign started when Senator Mohammed Sani Musa who sponsored the Bill titled “A Bill for an Act to make provisions for the protection from internet falsehood and manipulations and for related matters, 2019,” insisted that there is need to regulate social media as it is now being used to cause disaffection and assassinatieon of character through fake news.
The Senate has brought back a bill that will regulate the use of social media in Nigeria, this time, entitled, Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill, 2019( SB.132). The Bill which is sponsored by the Chairman, Committee on Senate Services, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, All Progressives Congress, APC, Niger East if passed at the end of the day, would help curb fake news on the Social Media.
The bill prohibits statements on social media deemed “likely to be prejudicial to national security” and “those which may diminish public confidence” in Nigeria’s government. It proposes these offenses be punishable by a fine, a prison sentence of three years, or both. The bill also seeks to allow law enforcement agencies to order internet service providers to disable internet access.
Nigerian campaigners are speaking out against a bill that would regulate engagement on social media with the campaign “#SayNoToSocialMediaBill”. The Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulation Bill 2019 was presented in the Senate for a second reading last week before being passed on for further consideration. Activists have called for a rally at the National Assembly this Wednesday to protest the bill.
Lawmakers championing the bill claim it is necessary in the interests of security, peace, and unity, but the language of the bill would appear to create vague criminal offenses that would allow the authorities to prosecute peaceful criticism of the government. This would violate international law protecting freedom of speech. With about 29.3 million users across Nigeria, social media is a critical tool for shaping public discourse.
A bill to regulate social media was first considered in 2015 but failed to pass into law after similar public outcry. In the same year, however, the Cybercrimes law was enacted, criminalizing a broad range of online interactions. Authorities have charged activist Omoleye Sowore and at least five bloggers under this law. Several other recent arrests and detentions of journalists and activists, raids, and shutdowns of media outlets suggest a disturbing trend toward repression of freedom of expression in Nigeria.
In another worrying move, the Nigerian Senate reintroduced a hate speech bill on November 12 that would have made the death penalty a possible punishment for hate speech. The death penalty provision was later removed from the bill following immense public pressure. Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances because of its inherent cruelty.
Nigeria’s constitution, like international and African human rights law, protects the right to freedom of expression and provides that any restriction to this right must be justifiable in a democratic society. Nigerian lawmakers need to ensure the rights of everyone to peaceful criticism of the government without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanctions.
This news caused a lot of controversies and a lot of people came out to speak on this issue, An online petition to stop the bill surpassed 70,000 signatures Monday as the debate blazed across Nigeria’s Twitterverse:
“This Social Media Bill is very worrisome. We're used to taking everything so lightly. I doubt most of us understand the implications of this if it gets passed. The things I've been reading are crazy. Freedom of speech is almost all the power we have left #SayNoToSocialMediaBill” The singer popularly known as Simi started an online petition to stop the bill which surpassed 70,000 signatures.
A lot of Nigerians spoke up about the issue which I’ll include down “If the social media bill passes, law enforcement agencies have the right to shut down internet at any time,” the television host Bolanle Olukanni
“When the government get to play judge & jury over what is fake & what is true, their power is sweeping & the effect chilling,”posted EiE Nigeria, a youth advocacy group.
Part of that bill said “Any person who unlawfully uses, publishes or cause to be published, any petition, complaint not supported by a duly sworn affidavit, shall be deemed to have committed an offence and upon conviction, shall be liable to an imprisonment for six months without an option of fine.”
It also said “Any person who acts, uses, or cause to be used any petition or complaints not accompanied by duly sworn affidavit shall be deemed to have committed an offence and upon conviction, shall be liable to an imprisonment for a term of two years or a fine of N200,000.00 or both.”
The bill passed the second reading before President Muhammadu Buhari distanced himself from it, saying he was committed to free speech.
The lawmakers were forced to withdraw the bill.
Alfred Malynda
Student of Mass Communication
Babcock University
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