The Chairman Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Sen. Michael Bamidele has said that the National Assembly would not falter in making laws for the advancement of Nigeria.
Bamidele made the remarks in a Public hearing on the Protection from Internet Falsehood and manipulations and for Related Matters Bill, 2019 held on Monday at the National Assembly, Complex.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bill, tagged Social Media Bill sponsored by Sen. Sani Musa (APC-Niger) passed the second reading in the Senate on Nov. 20, 2019.
According to him, the national assembly as the bedrock and traditional custodian of constitutional democracy charged with the responsibility of making laws would not shirk in its mandate of making laws that would be acceptable in the country.
He said that it was through the instrumentality of public hearings that legislative committees gather information and receive valuable contributions from the members of the public that enhanced the legislative processes.
The chairman said that the bill sought among other things, to make provision for a legal framework to regulate and control the use of the internet and its intermediaries in the transmission of information in the country.
“The objectives of the proposed bill include to prevent the transmission of false statements and declaration of facts in Nigeria and to enable measures to be taken to counter the effects of such transmission.
” To suppress the financing, promotion and other support of online locations that repeatedly transmit false statements and declaration of facts in Nigeria.”
“While the support for the passage of the bill is predicated on the fact that it will curtail hate speeches and fake news, other views expressed against its passage were to the effect that the bill is aimed at gagging the freedom of speech guaranteed by the Constitution.”
Declaring the public hearing opened, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan noted that the hearing was a crucial one because the bill had generated a lot of passion which was not unexpected because the bill is related to the internet.
He said that the internet had become central to humans as it has reshaped how they lived, worked and how they interacted.
“Like every other innovation, it has had its positive and negative sides. While it has somewhat made communication easier, faster and even cheaper, it has also affected our ability to easily trust some information.
“When this kind of situation arises, we should interrogate all the sides in the divides on a continuous basis.”
Lawan said if this was done, it would lead to a better understanding of the dimensions and provide an agreeable way forward.
“The Senate, and indeed the National Assembly have never assumed the position of knowing it all. Our rules and procedures do not even envisage a position where we will arrogate to ourselves knowledge of everything.
“It was for this reason that we were prompt in referring the protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations and for Related Matters Bill, 2019 (sb.132), to the relevant committee last November.
“And it is pursuant to our procedure to open up discussions that we have invited you all. In assembling here, however, we need to remember that there are multiple positions on every argument.
“This implies that we should not just be open-minded and dispassionate, but should be ready to hear the other side, no matter how strong we feel about our own position.
“I agree that matters of freedom of speech and the inalienable rights of man are issues we should not compromise. I also agree that the right of an individual ends where the rights of another individual begins”.
” The rope between the freedom of an individual and the limits of that individual was often a tight one to walk and as a people, however, we could not stop discussing this freedom and its limitations for peace and harmony,” the senate president said. (NAN)
