Freedom Of Information: NCC, NUJ, AI, Civil Groups Reject Social Media Bill - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (J.T)
March 10, 2020
The Social Media Bill suffered a setback in the Senate.
Some stakeholders, mainly civilsociety and non-governmental organisations, NGOs; the Nigeria Union ofJournalists, NUJ and Amnesty International, AI at a public hearing, rejectedthe Bill and asked the Senate to drop it in the interest of freedom ofinformation.
The proposed bill sponsored bySenator Mohammed Sani Musa is titled: “A Bill for an Act to make provisions forthe protection from internet falsehood and manipulations and for relatedmatters, 2019.
According to Musa, the law, amongothers, seeks to prevent the transmission of false statements in Nigeria.
It also recommends that any oneguilty should be liable to a fine of 300 thousand naira   or threeyears imprisonment, or both for individuals; a fine not exceeding 10 millionnaira for corporate organisations and same punishment  for fake onlineaccounts that transmit false statements.
The President of the Senate AhmadLawan described the public hearing as vital because the bill has generated alot of passion. He also noted that the desire was not unexpected because theproposed law relates to the Internet and others.