The Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Mr Festus Keyamo, believes regulating the posts on social media is the way to go in order to bring sanity into the society.
Keyamo stated this in a series of tweets on Monday in reaction to the proposal of the Social Media Bill by the National Assembly.
He took a swipe at those condemning the bill and asked them to unblock and apologise to those who irritated them with insults.
READ ALSO: Social Media Bill Passes Second Reading In Senate
Although the minister did not support the death penalty for hate speech, he insisted that posting false information on social media was dangerous for the nation.
He stressed that there should be some penal consequences for those who deliberately go online to post false stories under the umbrella of freedom of speech.
The Social Media Bill has sparked mixed reactions from individuals and groups within and outside Nigeria.
Read Keyamo’s tweets below:
Those so-called overnight Social Media ‘activists’ who oppose the Social Media Bill should first stop blocking those who irritate them with insults, unblock all those they have blocked and apologise to them. You can’t be intolerant and ask others to be. Practice what you preach.
— Festus Keyamo, SAN (@fkeyamo) December 2, 2019
Some cannot differentiate the Social Media Bill from the Hate Speech Bill. Whilst no reasonable person will support death sentence for hate speech, you can’t come online to say something totally untrue that can put other lives in danger without some kind of penal consequence
— Festus Keyamo, SAN (@fkeyamo) December 2, 2019
The real agitation should be for Parliament, in line with S.36(12) of the 1999 Constitution, to clearly define the TYPES of false & insensitive posts that would attract penal consequences, so that govt doesn’t abuse it. But to leave everyone to just post ANYTHING is unacceptable
— Festus Keyamo, SAN (@fkeyamo) December 2, 2019
Civil suits on Defamation of character only take care of PERSONAL INSULTS. I don’t subscribe to punishment for that. But you cannot come online to deliberately post false stories, in the guise of ‘freedom of speech’, that can set the nation ablaze without some penal consequences
— Festus Keyamo, SAN (@fkeyamo) December 2, 2019
