No Going Back On Social Media Regulation
Channel: Plus TV Africa
Date: 2019-11-17

The Federal Government says it will not rescind its decision to regulate social media. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said this on Thursday during a courtesy call on him by the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers in Abuja. Mohammed said the intense debate that has been generated by the announcement of the regulation is a welcome development. He allayed the fear of stifling free speech or muzzling the media. The minister clarified the concern has to do with the abuse of social media by those who are bent on spreading fake news and hate speech, and the dangers inherent in that for national peace and unity. 

He emphasized 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 national fault lines, set citizens against one and another and trigger a national conflagration.