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In our collection of letters from African writers, Nigerian journalist and novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani seems to be at why the Nigerian authorities are fearful about social media and its impression within the period of #EndSars protests.
Over the previous week, some Nigerian state governors and public officers have referred to as for some kind of regulation of social media, although not a complete shutdown.
“Social media has come to stay and it will be an antithesis to democracy to shut it down because it is the fastest way of disseminating information,” the nation’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed assured.
“However, we must regulate social media in a manner that it does not become a purveyor of fake news and hate speech,” he mentioned a few invoice being debated by the Senate to criminalise the peddling of false and malicious data on-line.
Under the proposed invoice, offences vary from transmitting data that’s false to data that impacts safety or causes enmity between individuals or teams. Punishments will embrace fines of 300,000 naira ($785; £600) and three years in jail.
Many Nigerians fear that that is merely an try to stifle activism and forestall future acts of defiance in opposition to the state.
Social media platforms, like Twitter, performed a key function within the current #EndSars anti-police brutality protests that swept throughout the nation for about two weeks, scenes unprecedented in Nigeria’s current historical past.
Daily convergence instances and areas, fundraising, authorized help, and different organisation for the protests have been unfold through social media.
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Videos of incidents have been additionally posted on social media, comparable to unconstitutional assaults or arrests by safety personnel.
And, whereas Nigerian authorities proceed to disclaim that any protesters have been shot lifeless on the evening of 20 October when troopers have been despatched to disperse a gathering of protesters on the Lekki Tollgate space in Lagos, viral movies appear to inform a very completely different story.
‘Fearful whispers’
“Considering recent events in the country, it has become extremely important for the Nigerian government to demonstrate its accountability to the people,” learn a press release by a coalition of activist teams against the anti-social media invoice.
“And the social media remains a crucial platform where citizens can lead such a conversation.”
Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
Our nation’s historical past is fraught with episodes of authoritarian governments stifling freedom of speech, with dire penalties for anybody who spoke out of line”
Nigerians have good reason to be worried about any attempt to control what people say.
Our country’s history is fraught with episodes of authoritarian governments stifling freedom of speech, with dire consequences for anyone who spoke out of line.
During the era of military rule which lasted from 1983 to 1999, government critics were regularly detained or harassed. Politics was discussed in fearful whispers.
In 1984, the administration enacted a decree that shut down any newspapers, radio, or television stations whose activities were considered to be damaging to the government.
Muhammadu Buhari, then 42 years old and a general, was military ruler at the time.
Today, the septuagenarian is the country’s elected president, and some Nigerians are wary of his old ways breaking through the veneer of converted democrat.
‘Nigeria is various and unstable’
However, there is a valid case against the negative impact of social media in Nigeria.
While dubious laws and edicts may not be the solution, the problem needs to be acknowledged.
Ethnic rivalry, religious intolerance, and other forms of aggression have been stoked by fake news items on social media.
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A country as diverse and volatile as Nigeria can definitely do without the hatred and incitement.
Some fake news items from social media have travelled unchecked into the mainstream media, becoming even more difficult to extinguish.
While fake news is a problem faced by almost every country around the world, Nigeria’s situation is particularly dangerous because most young people here depend completely and entirely on social media for their news, and the elderly on messaging apps like WhatsApp.
In a country where more than 152 million of a 200 million population live on less than $2 (£1.50) a day, according to the African Development Bank, few people can afford diverse sources of information.
Buying newspapers , magazines or books is a luxury. Libraries are almost non-existent outside big cities like Abuja and Lagos.
Nigeria has the least inexpensive web globally, in response to this yr’s Digital Quality of Life Index by Surfshark Press.
Therefore, the average person might invest in data for Twitter or Facebook and WhatsApp, but not have enough for online newspapers or to research whether what they have seen on social media is accurate.
AFP
We are sitting on a time bomb on this challenge of faux information”
During the #EndSars campaign, a bogus claim went viral urging people to remain in the streets for as long as possible because the UN would be obliged to intervene only if the protests lasted for a month.
Also, the photograph of a man carrying a dead body wrapped in a bloodstained Nigerian flag went viral, purportedly from the night of the Lekki Tollgate shootings. It turned out to be from a theatre production to mark Nigeria’s independence anniversary.
“These younger individuals do not even watch tv or take heed to the radio or learn newspapers,” said the information minister, as he made a case for the anti-social media bill during a press conference.
“We are sitting on a time bomb on this challenge of faux information.”
But, Nigerians are determined to resist to the end. The activism has already begun – on social media, with the trending hashtag #SayNoToSocialMediaBill.
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