Mixed Reactions Over FG’s Plan To Regulate Social Media

The proposed plan by the federal government to regulate contents on social media has continued to generate reactions from Nigerians.

The minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, had disclosed that the federal government is planning to inject sanity into social media which he said was currently out of control.

It will be recalled that Mohammed made the disclosure in Abuja while speaking with journalists on the plan by the government. According to him, the move to regulate the online media will be in line with international best practices.

But the announcement by Mohammed as shown by two recent polls conducted shows that Nigerians are divided over the issue. The results of the polls show that while some Nigerians favour the regulation of social media, outrightly disagree with the proposed regulation.

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Some who backed the proposed regulation pointed out that social media played a key role in influencing the outcomes of elections in the country.

They noted that there is a limitation to the fundamental human right. Nigerian government announces readiness to sanities social media But others who are against the proposed regulation accused the government of planning to restrict criticism.

They urged the government to focus on governance rather than on controlling free speech. Findings show that while 43% of Nigerians ain support of the regulation of the bill, 28% kicked against the notion.

Findings showed that 59% of Nigerians are against the regulation of online media while 41% favoured the regulation. This is not the first time the federal government will be raising concerns over content on social media, a year ago, Lai Mohammed said Nigeria’s campaign against fake news has received a boost from Face book which plans to partner with the federal government to check the menace.

He said national campaign, which was launched on July 11, 2018, had succeeded in bringing the phenomenon to the