We will Sue Northern Governors, NASS over Social Media Bill – SERAP Threatens

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The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has threatened to sue the Northern Governors’ Forum and the National Assembly if the social media bill is passed into law.

“We’ll sue the Northern Governors’ Forum and @nassnigeria if any Social Media bill is passed and signed by President Buhari. Nigerians have a right to freedom of expression online.

“We won’t accept any illegal attempts to interfere with that right #NoToSocialMediaBill,” the human rights group tweeted.

SERAP stated this in a tweet on Tuesday in reaction to the Northern governor’s call for censorship and control of social media.

Meanwhile, the Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill, popularly known as the Social Media Bill was sponsored in 2019 by Senator Mohammed Sani Musa.

In response to this development, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan earlier in 2020 said that the National Assembly would not arrogate to itself the power of exclusively passing the social media bill into law without inputs from Nigerians.

Lawan declated this while delivering an address to open a Public Hearing on the Social Media Bill

Lawan emphasized that freedom of speech and the inalienable rights of man are issues that should not be compromised under any guise.