Recently, the new and conventional media spaces were flooded with mixed
reactions following the introduction of the Internet Falsehoods and
Manipulations Bill at the Senate by Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, from
Niger State.
Sadly, the bill has been re-captioned and misinterpreted as
“Anti-social Media Bill” by some persons who have not been
privileged to read through the aims and objectives of the Bill.
Also, the contribution of Comrade Senator Abba Moro on the floor of the
Senate when this Bill was introduced on Tuesday has been twisted and
quoted out of context on the social media by some persons, thereby
generating diverse reactions and concerns from many people, especially
his constituents in Benue South.
To set the record straight, there is no Bill currently before the Red
Chamber tagged ‘Anti-social Media Bill’ as being widely reported in
the media. This is a clear case of giving the dog a bad name just to
hang it.
For avoidance of doubt and misrepresentation of facts, the aims and
objectives of the newly-introduced Bill include;
(a) to prevent the transmission of false statement/declaration of facts
in Nigeria and to enable measures to be taken to counter the effects of
such transmission.
(b)to suppress the financing, promotion and other support of online
locations that repeatedly transmit false statements/declaration in
Nigeria.
(c) to enable measures to be taken to detect, control and safeguard
against coordinated inauthentic behaviour and other misuses of online
accounts and bots;
There is nowhere in the bill that says social media should be muzzled or
caged.
Distinguished Senator Abba Moro had during his contribution on Tuesday
affirmed that the Internet Falsehoods and Manipulations Bill was one
with a good intention and would protect the society.
“One way or the other, we have been victims of the spread of falsehood
and the manipulation of the internet has caused a lot of havoc to some
of us.
” I believe it is intended to protect society against unscrupulous
elements within the society.
“In this jet age, if we allow an unbridled manipulation of the
internet and the spread of falsehood, society will be at the mercy of
these elements.
” If we leave this to continue the way it is spreading, to take root
in Nigeria, at a certain point, we may find it difficult to come to
terms with the damage that it will do to society.” The above were the
submissions of the Comrade Senator during the plenary.
Distinguished Senator Abba Moro will never be part of any Bill that will
gag the press or strip Nigerians of their constitutional right of
Freedom of Speech and Expression, as enshrined in the Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended.
As a man who has always stood by the masses and very media friendly,
Senator Moro will never, by act of commission or omission, support any
action or Bill that’s aimed at muzzling the Press or silencing
Nigerians; he will only continue to be a loud voice for the voiceless
and defend the rights of Nigerians. He’s an active user of social
media, hence, the reason he appointed an aide on social media.
However, Comrade Senator Moro, being a patriotic Nigerian, will join
other well-meaning Nigerians across party, religious and tribal lines,
to support any effort by individual, group or government that is aimed
at sanitizing the cyberspace and curbing speeches or publications that
are fake, unfounded, injurious, hate-filled and inflammatory, to
willfully, intentionally and deliberately inflict pains on, cause
embarrassment, harass or blackmail the target(s), or capable of inciting
a person or persons against individuals or groups, to cause hatred or
enmity among Nigerians, or divide the country along tribal and religious
lines.
He believes all Nigerians must work towards a peaceful, united and
prosperous nation; a society that’s free of hate, malicious falsehood,
cyber fraud, willful blackmail, character assassination and
cyberbullying.
The task of protecting and jealously guarding the country against
divisive, malicious and mischievous elements is a task that must be done
collectively.
Senator Moro would like to remind all Nigerians that no human right is
absolute, noting one man’s right stops where another man’s begins.
Comrade Senator Abba Moro believes the Social Media has an important
role to play in building a healthy and prosperous Nigeria.
GODWIN AMEH
SA MEDIA
22/11/2019