NCC says no plan to control social media

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said there is no plan to regulate activities of social media platforms in the country. NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman Prof Umar Danbatta said in Lagos at the 4th edition of the Lagos Social Media Week that fears that Nigeria plans to regulate activities of social media platforms “are misplaced”, […]

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said there is no plan to regulate activities of social media platforms in the country.
NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman Prof Umar Danbatta said in Lagos at the 4th edition of the Lagos Social Media Week that fears that Nigeria plans to regulate activities of social media platforms “are misplaced”, according to a statement by NCC’s Public Affairs Director, Tony Ojobo.
 ‘’Fears are being expressed that the NCC wants to start regulating Over-The-Top (OTT)  services.
‘‘These fears are misplaced. What the NCC paper has done is to elevate the value and quality of discourse on the issue’’, the NCC boss, who was represented by the commission’s Director of Public Affairs Tony Ojobo at the event said.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recently published a 23 page document, ‘’An Overview of Provision of Over-The-Top (OTT) Services’’, underscoring the growing influence of the OTT services on the operation of traditional mobile telephone networks.
Prof Danbatta said people expressed the fear because of the document, adding that NCC only published the document when some operators expressed concern about the activities of OTT operators and how they affect baseline returns in the country.
According to NCC, “a particular operator suggested that OTT players are eating the operators’ ‘‘lunch’’ since they are not regulated and have no investment to increase their cost base.’’