“…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.”
TALKING POINTS FOR THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND CULTURE,
ALHAJI LAI MOHAMMED, DURING MEETING WITH GUILD OF CORPORATE ONLINE
PUBLISHERS (GOCOP) IN ABUJA, THURSDAY 14 NOV. 2019
PROTOCOL
– I welcome the members of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers
(GOCOP) here in Abuja and thank you all most sincerely for being here.
– I have been meeting with online publishers in Lagos, the latest of
which was on Oct. 20th 2019, but this is the first time I will be
meeting with online publishers here in Abuja. I do hope we can also
institutionalize this meeting.
– I want to use this opportunity to solicit your support, as visible
and influential players on the social media, for the National Campaign
for Fake News and Hate Speech which we launched last year.
– 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 sanitize 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.
– However, we have noticed that most of those who are opposed to the
planned regulation of the social media have based their argument on
two main points:
i) – That the nation already has enough laws to deal with those who
are using the social media to purvey fake news and hate speech and,
ii) – That the planned regulation is aimed at stifling free speech and
muzzling the media, especially those critical of the Administration
– 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 criticizing the Administration. We have no problem
with that, because it is part of democracy. People are using the
traditional media to criticize the Administration. Why not? This is a
democracy and there should be plurality of opinions. But our concern
has to do with the abuse of the social media by those who are bent on
spreading fake news and hate speech, and the dangers inherent in that
for our national peace and unity. We have no hidden agenda.
– As I have said many times, no responsible government will sit by
and allow fake news and hate speech to dominate its media space,
because of the capacity of this menace to exploit our national fault
lines to set us against each other and trigger a national
conflagration.
– Finally, and for the avoidance of doubt, while we welcome a robust
debate on this issue, the criticisms in certain quarters will not stop
us from going ahead with our efforts to sanitize the social media
space. It is the right thing to do in the circumstances. And we are
not alone in doing this. Countries around the world are as concerned
as we are, and they are doing something about the social media. The
list is long: Germany, UK, Singapore, China, South Korea, Uganda,
Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, etc.
– Once again, I thank you all for coming and for your kind attention