Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Senate President, Mr Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of House of Representatives, Mr Tajudeen Abbas “to reject the recently reintroduced social media regulation bill which if passed would unduly restrict the rights to freedom of expression and privacy.
SERAP urged them to “request the administration of President Bola Tinubu to drop any ongoing efforts to put pressure on Google, YouTube, TikTok and other social media companies to unduly restrict these fundamental human rights.”The National Broadcasting Commission last week reportedly stated that, “one of Nigeria’s major problems now is social media”, and described the social media as “a monster”.
The letter, read in part, “Rather than rushing to pass the social media regulation bill, the National Assembly should encourage the Federal Government to maximize opportunities around social media access, and address the growing social and economic inequalities in the country.” “Under international law, all restrictions on the operation of social media companies and other intermediaries must comply with the requirements of legality, legitimacy and necessity.”
“The Federal Government has the legal obligations to promote and facilitate the enjoyment of human rights, and to take all steps necessary to ensure that all individuals have meaningful access to social media. The authorities should refrain from unduly interfering with access to digital communications platforms.”
“This includes information that may be regarded as offensive, false or untrue by some people but is considered legitimate political discourse by others. Restrictions on the right to freedom of expression are only permissible when they meet the requirements of legality, necessity, proportionality and non-discrimination.”
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