The Senate on Wednesday passed the controversial anti-social media bill for second reading despite the criticism it attracted when it was first introduced to the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly.
Tagged “A bill for an Act to make provisions for the Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations and for related matters, 2019 and sponsored by Senator Musa, Mohammed Sani (Niger East),
The bill had the support of Senator Ishaku Cliff and others and reportedly, was solely, opposed by Senator Chimaroke Nnamani.
During the debate, Nnamani was said to have argued that there is legislation in the country namely the Cyber Crimes Act, which already addresses internet falsehood.
The red chamber directed its committee on judiciary to work on the bill and return in four weeks.
If passed into law, the bill seeks to prevent falsehoods, manipulations, and counter the effects of such communications and transmission to sanction offenders with a view of encouraging and enhancing transparency by social media platforms using the internet correspondences.
