Tobi Adebayo
Amnesty International has criticised the Federal Government over its plan to regulate the use of social media in Nigeria.
The human rights non-governmental organisation made its stance known in a tweet on Thursday.
Minister for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, during a public hearing on a bill to amend the National Broadcasting Commission Act, had urged the House of Representatives to include regulation of Twitter.
Reacting to Mohammed’s call, Amnesty International via Twitter said that criticizing the government will be made punishable by imprisonment.
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“When Social Media is Regulated, Authorities can arbitrarily have powers to shut down the internet and limit access to social media.
“Criticizing the government will be made punishable with penalties of up to three years in prison.
“Regulating social media in Nigeria could be easily abused to punish critics of government policies and actions, and anyone who asks difficult questions could find themselves liable for ‘diminishing public confidence in the government.’
“Seeking a law to prohibit abusive, threatening and insulting behaviour is open to very wide interpretation. This section would pose a threat to critical opinion, satire, public dialogue and political commentary,” the tweets read.
