Nigerian Senate Presents Anti-Social Media Bill

The Nigerian Senate presented a draft bill last week that could find social media users who “propagate false information,” or disseminate “abusive statements” punishable by fines and prison sentences, according to reports by the Nigeria-based Premium Times and Vanguard. The proposed legislation, cited in the Senate as the “Frivolous Petitions (Prohibition, etc.) Bill, 2015,” sparked outrage and controversy in Nigeria, where citizens turned to media outlets to express their disapproval.

“If Nigerian senators can’t stomach criticism, they have no business being in the senate #SayNoToSocialMediaBill,” tweeted @ZahrahMusa. Others used the hashtag to organize activism against the bill across Nigeria.

The Premium Times published an opinion piece claiming that the laws were “primitive, misguided,” and redundant given libel and defamation laws already exist. It further criticized leaders for not focusing instead on fighting Boko Haram, corruption, and impunity.

An urgent appeal from the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) even reached the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Times reported.

Yet, The Vanguard reports that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, stated the bill would advance despite criticisms. Other senate leaders explained their motivations to quell concerns.

“I have been a journalist all my life and the major and important tenet of that profession is that you must be fair to all concerned,” Senator Biodun Olujimi said in a speech to the senate. “But on this issue of social media, nobody is fair to anybody.”

Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Senate Minority Leader, denied the concerns, and instead asked social media users to “rest easy,” through a series of tweets on December 3. “There’s was no plan whatsoever to gag social media,” he claimed, “Even if there was ever such a plan, it will not fly. But no plans at all.”