Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open
\nletter to President Muhammadu Buhari requesting him to \u201cuse your good
\noffices and leadership position to instruct the military authorities to
\nimmediately end any monitoring of activities of Nigerians on the social
\nmedia, and to ensure that military operations comply with Nigerian
\nConstitution 1999 (as amended) and the country\u2019s obligations under
\ninternational human rights law.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the letter dated 25 August 2017 and signed by SERAP deputy director
\nTimothy Adewale the organization expressed \u201cserious concern that any
\nmonitoring of Nigerians on social media by the military authorities would
\ndirectly violate the constitutionally and internationally guaranteed
\nrights to freedom of expression and privacy online. Instructing the
\nmilitary to end any such monitoring would help your government to defend
\nand keep to its oft-repeated commitment to human rights, transparency and
\naccountability.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization said that, \u201cMonitoring of the social media by the
\nmilitary is neither necessary nor proportionate, and could portray your
\ngovernment as working to control the political and social media space.
\nClassifying legitimate exercise of freedom of expression as \u2018hate speech\u2019
\nis counter-productive, In exercise of their rights to freedom of
\nexpression and privacy, Nigerians should be allowed to speak truth to
\npower and stand up for their rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the organization, \u201cMonitoring Nigerians on social media would
\ncriminalize their freedom and the activity of journalists that are
\ncritical of the government and censor the media from reporting on
\nsensitive and critical information that is relevant to the public interest
\nbut controversial to the government. It would have a chilling effect on
\nmedia activities in Nigeria, and pose a serious threat to the ability of
\nNigerians to meaningfully participate in their own government.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization\u2019s letter followed reported statement by the Director of
\nDefence Information, Major-General John Enenche that the activities of
\nNigerians on the social media are now being monitored for hate speech,
\nanti-government and anti-security information by the military. He
\njustified this move on the alleged grounds of \u201ctroubling activities and
\nmisinformation capable of jeopardizing the unity of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter read in part: \u201cTo monitor Nigerians\u2019 access to social media
\nsolely on the basis that it may be used to express views critical of the
\ngovernment or the political social system espoused by the government is
\nentirely incompatible and inconsistent with constitutional guarantees and
\nNigeria\u2019s international human rights obligations and commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP notes that protecting critical expression on the Internet is the
\nstandard by which governments are now held to be considered genuinely
\ndemocratic. Nigerians should therefore be allowed to discuss government
\npolicies and engage in political debate; report on corruption in
\ngovernment; and exercise their right to expression of opinion and
\ndissent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we recognize the obligation to protect against hate speech that
\nconstitutes incitement to hostility, discrimination or violence, this
\nshould not be used as a pretext to clampdown on legitimate exercise of the
\nright to freedom of expression that does not constitute incitement to
\ndiscrimination, hostility or violence. Blanket clarification of expression
\nthat falls short of expression that constitutes incitement to violence,
\nhatred or discrimination under international law can only limit media
\nfreedom and chill discourse deemed controversial or critical of your
\ngovernment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP notes that sections 37 and 39 of the Nigerian Constitution
\nguarantee the rights to privacy and freedom of expression. Similarly,
\narticle 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to
\nwhich Nigeria is a state party protects Nigerians\u2019 right to maintain an
\nopinion without interference and to seek, receive and impart information
\nand ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers. Under article 19(3) of
\nthe Covenant, restrictions on the right to freedom of expression must be
\n\u201cprovided by law\u201d, and necessary for \u201cthe rights or reputations of others\u201d
\nor \u201cfor the protection of national security or of public order (ordre
\npublic), or of public health and morals\u201d. Permissible restrictions on the
\ninternet are the same as those offline.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFurther, article 17(1) of the Covenant provides for the rights of
\nNigerians to be protected, inter alia, against unlawful or arbitrary
\ninterference with their privacy and correspondence, and provides that
\neveryone has the right to the protection of the law against such
\ninterference. \u201cUnlawful\u201d means that no interference may take place except
\nin cases envisaged by the law which in itself must comply with provisions,
\naims and objectives of the Covenant.\u00a0 SERAP believes that articles 17 and
\n19 of the Covenant are closely connected, as the right to privacy is an
\nessential requirement for the realization of the right to freedom of
\nexpression.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP notes the Human Rights Council resolution 20\/8 on the promotion,
\nprotection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet adopted on 5 July
\n2012, which affirms that the same rights that people have offline must
\nalso be protected online, in particular freedom of expression, which is
\napplicable regardless of frontiers and through any media of one\u2019s choice.
\nIt further called upon all States to promote and facilitate access to the
\nInternet and international cooperation aimed at the development of media
\nand information and communications facilities in all countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
SERAP therefore urged President Buhari to defend and keep to his
\noft-repeated commitment to human rights, transparency and accountability
\nby<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0 \u00a0 Immediately instructing the military authorities to end any
\nmonitoring of Nigerians on social media, and to ensure that military
\noperations fully comply with the country\u2019s constitution 1999 (as amended)
\nand the obligations of Nigeria under international human rights law;
\n2.\u00a0 \u00a0 Developing proactive and holistic policies that ensure that
\ntechnology is used to increase both freedom and security of Nigerians and
\nensure that everyone benefits from digital technology and not criminalized
\nand penalised for using it;
\n3.\u00a0 \u00a0 Focusing on promoting an open, transparent and democratic dialogue,
\nand protecting those at risk of being attacked for their opinions instead
\nof monitoring or clamping down on freedom of expression and privacy
\nonline;
\n4.\u00a0 \u00a0 Promoting, encouraging and facilitating access to the Internet, in
\nparticular social media, and other information and communication
\ntechnology, as basic tools for Nigerians to express themselves and
\nparticipate in their own government<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari requesting him to \u201cuse your good offices and leadership position to instruct the military authorities…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n