No going back on the sanitation of social media- Lai Mohammed

There is no going back on the planned sanitation of the social media, the federal government has maintained.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said government will not back down on the proposal.

The Minister, who spoke in Abuja during an audience with the online publishers, insisted no amount of criticism will deter the government from going ahead with it.

He stressed that it is the right thing to do as Nigeria was not alone on the measure.

The minister however said government was yet to come out with the modalities for the sanitization, saying it was not going to be a unilateral process.

Besides, he said there are many options open to government in regulating the social media apart from enacting new laws.

According to him: “In recent days, as you must be aware, the campaign has assumed a heightened dimension, especially after we announced, on Oct. 29th 2019, our plan to sanitise the social media.

“Let me say, straight on, that the intense debate – and the debate

has indeed been intense – that has been generated by our announcement, is a welcome development. This is because the announcement has pushed the issue of the social media to the front burner. We can only benefit from such debate.

“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.”

The minister also allayed fears of muzzling the media and stifling free speech.

He said: “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.

“In the second instance, there are many options open to us in regulating the social media. 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.

“Again, the fear of stifling free speech or muzzling the media is totally unfounded. We have no such plan. As we speak, people are on the social media criticising the Administration.