Senate Drops 7-Year Jail Term for Social Media Critics

The Senate on Tuesday decided to delete section 13 (3) from the proposed Bill on Electronic Fraud, following the criticism which greeted the inclusion of jail term for social media users who post information that threatens national security.

The Senate deleted the contentious clause because it could be abused and misinterpreted.

The problematic section 13 (3) of the draft bill stipulates that “Any person, who intentionally propagates false information that could threaten the security of the country or that is capable of inciting  the general public against the government through electronic message, shall be guilty of an offence and upon conviction,  shall be sentenced to seven years imprisonment, or a fine of N5million or both”

However following the controversy which the section generated and the negative publicity it attracted for the senate, Senator Adegbenga Kaka, the bill’s sponsor,  in company of Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs,  announced to journalists on Tuesday that the offending clause had been deleted from the bill.

The section stipulated a seven-year jail for people who intentionally publish slanderous messages about government electronically.

“And as a result, I have their permission to announce to the world that that section shall be deleted,” Kaka, said

The bill is entitled: ‘’A bill for an Act to provide for the prohibition of and punishment for electronic fraud and crime in all electronic transactions in Nigeria.’’

The bill passed through the second reading in the senate and was greeted with a lot of criticism from the social media.

Kaka expressed gratitude for all the contributions made both locally and internationally, adding that they further enriched the bill.

He added that more suggestions and debates concerning the bill would still be welcomed, to further enrich it in the overall interest of the country.

The lawmaker emphasised that the bill was not to gag the media but rather targeted against the misuse of the Internet, to curb the activities of scammers.