#EndSARS: Social Media Could End Nigeria If Not Regulated – FG

The federal has reiterated its commitment towards regulation and control of social media use in the country.

Lai Mohammed, minister of information, said the regulation of social media has become imperative in other to stem the tide of misinformation and goading of the public to towards unpleasant actions..

Speaking during a press conference on the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests on Thursday, Mohammed said the dissemination of fake news engendered the violence and unrest that trailed the protests. .

He, however, noted that the government had no plans to shut down social media but  will only regulate it.

Sunday Dare, minister of youth, had said the government had the option of shutting down social media during the #EndSARS protests but chose not to do so because it is “committed to the rights of every citizen”.

Many Nigerians have vehemently opposed against the planned regulation of social media.

A bill pushing for the regulation has already passed second reading at the senate.

But Mohammed said the government will go ahead to regulate social media, noting that continued use of social media in its current unregulated form portends danger for the existence of the country.

“Keen watchers of the developments cannot fail to notice the role played by the social media in the EndSARS protest. As a veritable tool for mass mobilization, the organizers of the protest of course leveraged heavily on social media for that purpose. But on the other hand, the same social media was used to spread fake news and disinformation that catalyzed the violence that was witnessed across the country,” he said.

“This development has reinforced the campaign against fake news and disinformation, which we launched in 2018. As a matter of fact, as far back as 2017, when we dedicated that year’s National Council on Information to the issue of fake news and disinformation, we had been expressing concerns on the dangers posed by irresponsible use of the new media platform. The concerns culminated in the launch of the national campaign which I referred to earlier.

“The social media was used to guide arsonists and looters to certain properties, both public and private.

“As we have said many times, no responsible government will stand by and allow such abuse of social media to continue. The fake news/disinformation purveyors have latched on to our concerns to allege that the Federal Government is planning to shut down social media. No, we have no plans to shut down the social media. What we have always advocated, and what we will do, is to regulate the social media. Nigeria is not alone in this regard. The issue of social media regulation is an ongoing debate not just in Nigeria but around the world, including in the United States, which is the flag flyer of constitutional democracy. Even the owners of the various social media platforms, including Facebook, are increasingly joining the call for content regulation.”

Mohammed further faulted those he accused of “playing to the gallery” regarding the issue of social media regulation.

He argued that if social media is left uncensored, there may not be a country left to defend.

“What they have failed to understand is that the only reason we are even able to have this debate is because we have a country. If we allow the abuse of social media to precipitate uncontrolled internecine violence, the kind of which was narrowly averted during the EndSARS crisis, no one will remember or be able to use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc, for whatever purpose,” he said.

“It is incumbent upon us all, therefore, to strike a balance between free speech – which this Administration is committed to upholding – and fake news/disinformation, which it is determined to fight.”