The Minister for Information, Lai Mohammed has disclosed that the government have no plans to shut down social media but are only prepared to regulate it.
Speaking at a press conference with journalist yesterday, Thursday, with a focus in the aftermath of the #ENDSARS protest, the Minister reaffirmed Nigerian’s right to freedom of expression and that’s why the government didn’t shut down the social media at the heat of the protest that eventually snowballed into violent clashes across the country.
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Many Nigerians have however kicked against the planned regulation of social media. And with a bill to effect the regulation already at an advanced stage at the senate, it’s unlikely government would hold back in it plans, Mohammed affirmed.
“Keen watchers of the developments cannot fail to notice the role played by the social media in the EndSARS protest. As a veritable tool for mass mobilization, the organizers of the protest of course leveraged heavily on social media for that purpose. But on the other hand, the same social media was used to spread fake news and disinformation that catalyzed the violence that was witnessed across the country,” he said.
“This development has reinforced the campaign against fake news and disinformation, which we launched in 2018. As a matter of fact, as far back as 2017, when we dedicated that year’s National Council on Information to the issue of fake news and disinformation, we had been expressing concerns on the dangers posed by irresponsible use of the new media platform. The concerns culminated in the launch of the national campaign which I referred to earlier.
“The social media was used to guide arsonists and looters to certain properties, both public and private.
“As we have said many times, no responsible government will stand by and allow such abuse of social media to continue. The fake news/disinformation purveyors have latched on to our concerns to allege that the Federal Government is planning to shut down social media. No, we have no plans to shut down the social media. What we have always advocated, and what we will do, is to regulate the social media. Nigeria is not alone in this regard. The issue of social media regulation is an ongoing debate not just in Nigeria but around the world, including in the United States, which is the flag flyer of constitutional democracy. Even the owners of the various social media platforms, including Facebook, are increasingly joining the call for content regulation.”
Mohammed further faulted those he accused of “playing to the gallery” regarding the issue of social media regulation.
He argued that if social media is left uncensored, there may not be a country left to defend.
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