No social media regulation bill yet – Senate panel

The Senate Committee on ICT and Cybercrime has said though it is tinkering with regulation of social media, there has yet to be a bill to that effect. The chairman of the committee, AbdulFatai Buhari, who made the clarification in an interview in Abuja said it is the bill on Cybercrimes and Other Online Frauds […]

The Senate Committee on ICT and Cybercrime has said though it is tinkering with regulation of social media, there has yet to be a bill to that effect.

The chairman of the committee, AbdulFatai Buhari, who made the clarification in an interview in Abuja said it is the bill on Cybercrimes and Other Online Frauds that has passed first reading, and not the social media bill.

He said cybersecurity challenges have made it imperative for a law to be made to save Nigerians from losing their wealth to fraudsters and hackers.

“We have got experts to advise us and we have presented a bill (on cybercrime) to the Senate. The bill has passed the first reading and it has been listed for second reading,’’ he said.

Buhari said though former President Goodluck Jonathan signed one cybercrime bill into law before he left office, the law is “scanty” and isn’t strong enough to reduce cybercrimes in the country.

“We have reviewed it and have expanded on it and even made it stronger”, he added.

But he maintained that many Nigerians were fond of making false claims and false accusations on social media to bring down those perceived to be their political enemies.

According to him, youths should use their ICT talent to develop the country’s economy and not to attack one another.