Bill to curb abusive statements on social media passes second reading in Senate

The Senate on Thursday passed into second reading a bill seeking two years imprisonment with an option of N2 million fine for any Nigerian who posts “abusive statements” on the social media.
The bill, which was sponsored by the Deputy Leader of the Senate, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, is seeking to provide punishment for frivolous petitions‎ by making sure that only credible and verifiable petitions are presented for public use.
According to the bill, any person who through text messages, tweets, What’sApp or any of the social media posts any abusive statement knowing same to be false with intent to set the public against any person and/or group of persons, an institution or Government or such other bodies established by law shall be guilty of an offence and upon conviction shall be liable to an imprisonment for two years or a fine of N2 million or both such fine and imprisonment.‎

Na’Allah said: “The bill, which appears “Sunset” in its nature, consists of four sections, which in clear terms spelt out the punishment for frivolous petition, what constitutes frivolous petition.
“The bill seeks to provide punishment for frivolous petition by making sure that only credible and verifiable petitions are presented for public use.

“The utility of the bill is to equally save the time for good governance and resources that go into investigating frivolous petitions.
“The bill would equally assist in shaping our negative thinking by elevating hard work over and above sycophancy and indolence.‎”