The Nigerian Senate has proposed a three-month jail for offensive users of social media. The Senator representing Niger East Senatorial District, Sani
The Nigerian Senate has proposed a three-month jail for offensive users of social media. The Senator representing Niger East Senatorial District, Sani Musa, has said that his bill on social media was aimed at guiding the users and not to gag media practitioners in Nigeria and aimed at ensuring sanity on social media.
The bill titled, “Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulation Bill 2019, passed first reading on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday.
He said individuals who post false information on the internet, when found guilty would be asked to pay a fine of N150, 000 or get sentenced to three months imprisonment. The Senator added that any corporate organisation that refused to block false information after the regulating agency had alerted it would be asked to pay a fine ranging from N5m to N10m.
He also said telecommunications firms that allow their network to be used to disseminate false information, could risk yet-to-determined sanctions. He said, “Nigeria is not only for government but for every Nigerian and we must all work towards moving this country to where it needs to be. For a country like Nigeria today and with the advent of social media, there is every reason for a country to as much as possible focus it’s attention to see how this new media can be tolerated.”
He said it was possible for individuals to stay in a room and post a piece of false information just to attack someone.
The Senator said, “I have a passion for IT and I know what it takes to disseminate your information, it is at the speed of light.
“False information has been disseminated so many times and they have caused so much chaos in different parts of the world. Some journalists will look at this legislation as if we are trying to bring a law that will gag the social media or the right to free press.
“I felt we need it in this country. If countries like Philippines, Singapore, Italy, Malaysia, Australia, France, Indonesia, Egypt are attempting to control social media to prevent the spread of false information, what stops us from doing it? There has never been a time when Nigeria has been very fragile in terms of its unity than this period.”
