Last week, the National Broadcasting Commission(NBC) made a statement confirming that it has sent a bill for the regulation of social media to the National Assembly.
The commission, which was established in 1992, has an advisory role to the Federal Government on trends in its industry as well as the consideration and approval of applications for the establishment and operation of radio and television broadcasting services in the country. The Director-General, Balarabe Ilelah, made this claim about the regulation of social media when the commission hosted Mohammed Idris, the current Minister of Information and National Orientation, at its headquarters on Tuesday, 10th October 2023.
He described the lack of social media regulation as creating a monster and acknowledged that although the NBC has no right to do so, the commission is hoping to repeal and amend the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Act of 2004 to incorporate this. The bill proposes measures, including mandating Nigerian social media users to register with the government and reserving the power to restrict and censor social media activity.
In 2019, a similar bill, the Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill, was presented to the house but failed to pass. However, now under the banner of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, it’s uncertain how the legislature will approach this bill, and what the outcome will be.
This has spurred many Nigerians into a frenzy, as the idea of the government regulating social media activities signals an infringement of the right to freedom of speech. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has also urged the National Assembly to reject the bill for the same reasons.