PRESS STATEMENT: BUILDING A
RESPONSIBLE SOCIAL MEDIA IN NIGERIA
Sunday 30th
June, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
During
the June 12 Inaugural Democracy Day Speech President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR spoke about social
media use in Nigeria. It is important that government puts in place measures to
build a safe and responsible social media in Nigeria because the social media
space is fast-becoming a space for intolerance, hate, defamation and other reprehensible
actions. Government must act urgently, cautiously and decisively to address
this challenge.
It
is important to allow free speech in the country, however it is not acceptable
for people in the exercise of their own freedoms to violate the rights and
freedoms of others. Government should also look into offline activities such as
protests which are organized to prevent other citizens from expressing their
own fundamental rights. For example the Nigerian Constitution allows every
citizen to worship freely. As a result no other citizen has a right to demand
that other citizens not worship where they please. This is a grave situation
that could have been caustic if the protesters had been dominated by a religion
different from the religious organization they protested against. While
citizens have been allowed to protest they must not infringe on the rights of
others while doing so. It is important for all Nigerians to understand that the
Judiciary is the only legal body in Nigeria saddled with the authority to judge
anyone. Acting outside the law is illegal irrespective of the nobility of the
intentions.
Some
snapshots from some of the most developed countries in the world are attached to
show that even in the most liberal democracies there are consequences for misuse
of social media.
Election
Monitor as an organization which promotes good governance has made some
recommendations for the Federal Government of Nigeria to help build a
responsible social media in Nigeria.
The
document can be found below.
Long
live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
Nigeria
shall prevail!
God
bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
Signed
Abiodun Ajijola
National Coordinator
Kindly click the link below to access the document:
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