Bukola Afeni
The Executive Vice Chairman of, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has thrown his weight behind regulating social media usage in the country to counter Network enormity within cyberspace.
Danbatta made this assertion at the launching of the book titled “Cyber Politics: Social Media, Social Demography and Voting Behavior in Nigeria” written by NCC Head of Media Relations, Dr Omoniyi Ibietan.
While addressing the audience at the launch, he reckoned that social media has come to stay but needs to be properly regulated to ensure responsible usage of the platforms.
He said,” Social media has come to stay but the people must use social media responsibly. Network enormity has become a source of concern and the way and manner we to inflammatory and defamatory content to denigrate our political opponents do not add value to the political process.”
While stressing the need to ensure a responsible way of using the platforms in politics, he said’ You cannot kill the social media, we have to learn to live with it, we have to find a responsible way to use social media”.
Corroborating these words, the Governorship Candidate of APGA, Enugu state, at the just concluded 2023 general elections, Nweke Jnr said ” Having come out of elections myself, I recognize the opportunity provided by social media. But I also worry about its adverse impact. The issues about fake news and their potential, not just to undermine, libel and slander people but to precipitate conflict.”
On whether government regulation for social media is the way to go, he said, “It is a very delicate balance between trying to protect the freedom of expression and protect public space and protect citizens from the potential adverse impact of fake news which has the potential to precipitate conflict.
“All these things are real, people lose their lives, for someone to make one negative comment and it spreads like wide fire. In every democracy, people reserve the right to express themselves freely, but that has to be done in a manner it does not infringe on the right of others. So it should be regulated in order not to undermine the right of people in the social space.
On his part, the author of the book, Dr Ibietan said, what he tried to do in the book was to look at the social behaviours of Nigerians, how they used social media to interact and how social media, which was considered very phenomenon, shaped the 2015 general elections, in terms of the use of social technology during the election.
He said: ” We have found that indeed, yes, social media may have shaped the way people voted, but the technology did so in the context of other mediating factors and influences; one of which is the context in which elections are contested.
“What we found now is that fact that this is in the contest that there is a sense in which humanity is connected but there are also variations. What we are trying to do in this book is to say, years of activities in cyberspace, which of course has been enabled by the internet is a global thing.
He, however, concluded that Nigerians are not just consumers of technology but also apply them in a context that gives meaning, not just to individual lives but also to business operations.
“As a nation, communication is primordial with man, shaping our lives and business and so, it is the most central aspect of politics. There is a sense in which we rely on using social technology that may be injurious to the beautiful society we are trying to create”, he said.
