We have kickstart social media regulation process – Mohammed 

 Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja

The minister made the disclosure when he received in audience, the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) in Abuja.

He recalled his earlier meeting with online publishers in Lagos, the latest of which took place on October 20, 2019.

He solicited the support of the publishers as visible and influential players on social media for the National Campaign for Fake News and Hate Speech which he launched last year.

Mohammed noted that the campaign for the regulation of the social media has assumed a heightened dimension, especially after the government announced on October 29, 2019, its plan to sanitize the social media.

He added that the debate which had been generated by the Government’s announcement was a welcome development.

According to Mohammed, “This is because the announcement has pushed the issue of the social media to the front burner. We can only benefit from such debate.”

Mohammed added: “We have been monitoring the debate. Some analysts and commentators have supported our plan, while others have opposed it. An interesting part of the debate has been that even those who oppose the regulation have acknowledged the dangers inherent in the irresponsible use of the social media, especially by anarchists and non-patriots. We thank everyone who has spoken out, and we hope the debate will continue.

“However, we have noticed that most of those who are opposed to the planned regulation of the social media have based their argument on two main points: That the nation already has enough laws to deal with those who are using the social media to purvey fake news and hate speech and, that the planned regulation is aimed at stifling free speech and muzzling the media, especially those critical of the administration.

“In the first instance, we have not told anyone how we plan to go about the regulation. This is because this will not be a unilateral process. It will involve all stakeholders coming together to chart the path forward. Let me announce here that we have just kick-started the process. We have dispatched letters inviting representatives of the media, civil society, technology and security experts, online publishers, bloggers, relevant agencies of government, etc, for this purpose.”

Mohammed added that in the second instance, there were many options open to the government in regulating the social media.

Mohammed said: “Apart from enacting new laws, we can also leverage on technology, working with the big techies like Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Instagram to check the spread of fake news and hate speech. It is therefore premature for anyone to say ‘Oh, there are enough laws already to deal with social media deviants’. In essence, the committee we plan to set up will determine the best option for us to use.”

While saying that the fear of stifling free speech or muzzling the media was totally unfounded, Mohammed said the government had no such plan.

“As we speak, people are on the social media criticizing the administration. We have no problem with that because it is part of democracy. People are using the traditional media to criticize the administration. Why not? This is a democracy and there should be plurality of opinions. But our concern has to do with the abuse of the social media by those who are bent on spreading fake news and hate speech, and the dangers inherent in that for our national peace and unity. We have no hidden agenda.

“As I have said many times, no responsible government will sit by and allow fake news and hate speech to dominate its media space, because of the capacity of this menace to exploit our national fault lines to set us against each other and trigger a national conflagration,” Mohammed also said.

Mohammed further said the government welcomed a robust debate on the issue, even as he said the criticisms in certain quarters will not stop the government from going ahead with its efforts to sanitize the social media space.

“It is the right thing to do in the circumstances. And we are not alone in doing this. Countries around the world are as concerned as we are, and they are doing something about the social media. The list is long: Germany, UK, Singapore, China, South Korea, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, etc.,” Mohammed also said.