Social Media is the social leveler and free mouth piece of the silent majority of people and social media sites like Facebook, twitter, Instagram, YouTube etc give everyone the opportunity to be heard about situations in their country. It allows the masses who have no say in the day to day administration of their country to speak out and express their opinions at will.
So, we believe that the Social Media Law being discussed in the National Assembly is an attempt to take away the rights of the people to free speech on social media and we call on all Nigerians and the international community to help us fight against it.
We also believe since the right to free speech is guaranteed under the Nigerian constitution, it is unconstitutional, illegal and repressive for the government to decide what one can say, or how they can say it on social media. If Nigerians allowed this bill to become law, it means you can be jailed for criticizing politicians, for re-posting whistle blower posts or for expressing your opinions about issues concerning the government. It also means the govt can use the law to silence the opposition during elections.
In short laws like the Social Media Law being proposed by the government is how repressive governments always start. During the military regime, it started with decree 2 and decree. now they want to start with Social Media law. Nigerians need to say NO loud and clear before it is too late!
The petition is calling on all Nigerians who value their freedom and who value free speech as an instrument to hold our leaders accountable, to oppose this new move by the government ot silent public dissent and public opinion by complaining loudly on their social media pages about this development.
Culled from Change.org
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