A call for social media act

It is no longer news that the Nigerian government on Friday June 4, 2021 indefinitely suspended the microblogging site, Twitter for undermining national security. The ban was sequel to the president’s tweets warning individuals vandalising, killing and causing havoc in the South Eastern part of the country to desist from inciting civil unrest in the […]

It is no longer news that the Nigerian government on Friday June 4, 2021 indefinitely suspended the microblogging site, Twitter for undermining national security. The ban was sequel to the president’s tweets warning individuals vandalising, killing and causing havoc in the South Eastern part of the country to desist from inciting civil unrest in the country became the bone of contention between the Government and American Tech giant. In one of the tweets, President Buhari recalled that “many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian civil war.” he continued, “Those of us, in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand”. Not long after that tweet was reported, Twitter claimed it violated its terms and conditions and thus pulled it down.

Since that suspension of twitter became effective, Nigeria has continued to lose huge chunk of money that should have been channelled to other developmental ventures had the government toyed the diplomatic path. Though the country has the constitutional obligation to protect her sovereignty against external aggression, it also needs to stand up against the meddlesomeness  of this tech giants to curtail their sinister influences on National politics and interest.

For instance, Twitter is reported to have headquartered its Africa’s office in Ghana, a country with tiny fraction of users compared with the forty millions Nigerian Twitterati. That is damning to Nigeria as a country. Meanwhile, Twitter cannot be blamed for Nigeria hydra-headed problems; political gladiators in the country for example have been fingered to be behind the persistent rise of insecurities, thereby, discouraging investors from coming to the country.

Nigeria is one of the few tolerant countries with freedom of expression. In some developed countries, there is “Social Media Act” which regulates citizens’ ways on social media use. Similarly, just like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter also remit certain percentage of its revenue to the coffers of those governments contributes to the revenues of these nations. Why has Nigeria not tapped into this? Further, this media act will mitigate the downside of social  media use among Nigerians.  Statements capable of inciting crisis in the country will be checked and flagged. United States of America, Saudi Arabia, Canada, United Kingdom for instance have measures that regulate media usage optimally.

In the late hours of Wednesday, June 9, 2021, after the National Executive Council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Muhammed disclosed that the officials of Twitter had reached out to iron  out issues in order to reverse the ban placed on them. It was revealed that the Twitter ban will only be lifted once it is duly registered in Nigeria. Registration should be applicable to Facebook and Instagram. This is a progressive step on the government’s part.

Nigerians are widely respected for their social media activism. In fact, the country ranks top ten in the world among social media active users. Despite this status, the country remains poor in term of revenue generation via the social media. There is no better time to address the issue of revenues through the social media than now. The legislature should come up with “Social Media Acts (Law)” to regulate media activities not only from the operators but also from users. The move to regulate social media should not be seen or considered political.

The law should feature regulations for association on social media litigation, digital millennium law, communication decency law, etc. Defamation and privacy lawsuits can be filed based on social media contents. This will drastically reduce unguarded statements, inciting contents and impugning trolls on social media. Nigerians must be aware of the downside of social media, because when the chips are down, those tech companies will leave in search of greener pastures elsewhere.

Akindele Abdulqayyu Olalekan writes from Ibadan, Oyo State