The Nigeria Senate is a very busy chamber, (the irony), as it currently seeks to clamp down on social media critics. Maybe this should ordinarily be the least of their worries as there are other several issues demanding their attention including wage cut of public officers which they have not raised a bill for.
Criticism on Wednesday greeted the bill by the Senate seeking a seven-year jail term for social media critics found guilty of inciting the public against the Federal Government.
The controversial bill, which reportedly has scaled through the second reading in the upper legislative chamber, is also proposing a stiffer punishment for Internet fraudsters and scammers. Such swindlers will also face seven years imprisonment.
Section 13 sub-section 3 of the bill proposes, “Anyone, who intentionally propagates false information that could threaten the security of the country or that is capable of inciting the general public against the government through electronic message shall be guilty of an offence and upon conviction shall be sentenced to seven years imprisonment or N5m (fine).”
The Senate President, David Mark, represented by the Deputy Minority Whip, Senator Abu Ibrahim, (APC, Katsina), declared open the public hearing of the bill on Tuesday.
According to Mark, electronic fraudsters posed a great danger to the country and so there is the need to tackle their activities in order to attract foreign investment. The committee chairman Senator Umaru Dahiru (PDP, Sokoto), also noted that electronic fraud was a threat to world economies and Nigeria being a developing economy should enact appropriate laws to deal with the challenges.
Although the bill has yet to be enacted, for Nigerians on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts, the consensus is that it simply amounts to an attempt to silence the voice of the people.
Already, social media perceptive Nigerians, who are not taking the lawmakers’ plan lightly, have swung into action to thwart what they described as plans by the government to silence the voice of the people.
Indeed, Victor Mbidi, a social media analyst, Online Editor and Presenter at Channels Television, hosted a G+ Hangout on Wednesday, where he urged Nigerians to share their thoughts on the “infamous” bill. The hangout, which was free and open to all, witnessed a large participation. It also featured live voice and video conversations.