Absence of social media law, threat to national security – Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Chairman, Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, Rochas Okorocha and other stakeholders have said that the absence of law regulating social media poses serious threat to national security.

They stated this, yesterday, at the annual Roundtable on Cultural Orientation organised by the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), in Owerri, Imo State.

The stakeholders maintained that the regulation of social media contents would help to defeat illegal activities and other inherent hazards on the social media.

The minister, who was represented by the Director, International Cultural Relations, Memunat Idu-Lah, said: “The resolve of government to regulate the platform is not designed to hamper freedom of expression or gag public discourse as being alleged, rather, it is to prevent its abuse and the negative consequences.

“The phenomenon of hate speech, fake news and other forms of criminality which feature regularly on the social media have the potential to harm the nation’s security, national unity and our overall national interest.”

Also, NICO Acting Executive Secretary, Louis Eriomala added that, “while we appreciate the enormous benefits to be derived from responsibly using the Internet and social media, we are deeply concerned about the negative consequences of its misuse on our culture and the future of our youths.