#SocialMediaBill: Nigerian Army, two others support social media bill
The Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters commenced the public hearing of the ‘Social Media Bill’ on Monday, having passed first and second readings.
The bill, ‘Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill, 2019,’ was introduced in the Senate in November 2019 and is sponsored by Niger senator, Mohammed Sani Musa.
Many Nigerians have kicked against the bill and the lawmakers have come under criticism for considering the bill. Many have said the bill is targeted at silencing the media and the masses.
The legislation comes few years after a similar anti-social media bill introduced in the eight Senate, sparked outrage across the country.
Over 20 institutions and groups that appeared at the public hearing, asked the lawmakers to trash the legislation even as many said Nigeria has existing laws that could cover the provision of the bill.
Nigerian Army, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Islamic Affairs and Civil Voices Coalition for protection of Rights and Privileges however, supported the bill.
Solomon Udounwa, the Deputy Chief of Policy and Planning of the Nigerian Army, spoke on behalf of the army. He supported the bill as he said the mission of the army is to win all land battle in defence of the nation.
He noted that Nigeria has had governments that have taken measures to promote national security, “measures that may appear to limit individual liberties but all in the interest of the nation.”
He also gave reasons as to why the bill should be passed and signed into law.
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Internet falsehood, he said, “undermines leadership, creates chaos, weakens institutions of governance and can be used to disrupt the economy and create social upheavals”.
For the army in particular, Mr Udounwa said fake news that targets the military “has serious impact on it as an institution, its operations and personnel welfare”.
“Internet falsehoods can undermine military leadership, lower troops morale, hurt the image of the image of the service and even harm personnel safety and that of their families.
“Internet falsehood not only distorts information but also misinforms members of the military and the general public. It severely impacts operational security and could also endanger inter-service rivalry where two or more services of the armed forces and other security agencies are pitted against each other.”
The officer listed measures taken by the army to limit falsehoods.
These include “doctrinal reviews, establishment of new units for specialised and specific functions to tackle the menace, improved information management, conduct of regular military-media interface, personnel education and enhancement of civil military cooperation activities”.
“The Nigerian Army Cyber Warfare command to strengthen our response – which has among other things, contributed immensely to the successful monitoring of the last general elections,” he added.
The officer said the army has submitted about 31 point observations on the bill and some of the observations have to do with provisions that are at variance with the constitution, “others that appear to deny fair hearing, provisions that appear to exclude the minitary from this bill and typographical and other drafting errors”.
He urged the Senate to look at the bill again and consider it in the interest of national security.
