We’ll Convene Stakeholders Meeting on Social Media Regulation Soon – FG

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BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Federal Government through the Ministry of Information and Culture, will convene a stakeholders’ meeting this month (February) as part of efforts to design a framework for the sanitization of the social media.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who stated this on Monday when he received in audience the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Jyrki Pulkkinen, and the Ambassador of Innovation of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Finland, Mr. Jarmo Sareva, who were on an advocacy visit to promote the ideals of the Freedom Online Coalition, said the government’s response to the irresponsible use of the social media to promote fake news and hate speech by some unscrupulous individuals is to work with stakeholders to device a mechanism to sanitize the social media, without stifling press freedom or infringing on the rights of individuals.
Mohammed said; “Our attempt to sanitize the social media is not at all an attempt to stifle the media and I want to make this very clear…. As we speak today, we will be meeting later in the month with leaders of the media, civil society, security and other stakeholders on how to sanitize our social media and make it safe for all.
“We, especially in this ministry, have watched with some trepidation the social media front and we have seen how some people try to abuse this platform to cause disaffection, especially by pushing fake news
and hate speech.”
The minister said the government remains overwhelmingly committed to the protection of human rights, both offline and online, noting however, that it will not shy away from ensuring that Nigeria has a responsibly free media.
Mohammed said that in spite of the plurality of values, tribes, cultures and religions, the government has striven to strike a balance
between press/individual freedom and national security.
According to him; “For us in Nigeria, respect for human rights is a cardinal principle of not just our constitution but of our day-to-day governance. I am
yet to see any country with the kind of population we have, the kind of multi values, multi cultures and multi religions we have, that has at the same time striven to balance national security with freedom of
the press.
“I make bold to say that this administration in particular has no intention and does not tamper with the freedom of speech or freedom of
individuals.”
In his remarks, the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Pulkkinen, acknowledged that the Minister has a broad understanding of the issues surrounding the misuse of the social media, particularly in relation
to the credibility of information on the platform, and urged Nigeria to partner with global bodies like the Freedom Online Coalition in order to address some of the challenges posed by the social media.
On his part, the Ambassador of Innovation in the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Finland, Mr. Sarevo, said the Freedom Online Coalition is a group of 31 like-minded countries formed to promote human rights
online and also ensure cyber security, privacy and protection of data against illegal usage and monetization and trust, with a view to protecting all those uploading data on the internet.

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