Senate seeks 2-yr jail for social media trolls

The Senate has made progress in a bid to ensure that any person who sends any false text message or post false message on the social media against another person shall be jailed for two years upon conviction by the law court.
The bill which has passed the second reading also proposed a two-year jail term for any person who makes allegation or publishes any statement or petition in a newspaper, radio or medium of whatever description against another person, institutions of government or any public office holder.
The bill, tagged: “A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and other Matters Connected therewith”, sponsored by Senator Ibn Na’Allah (APC, Kebbi South) compels petitioners to accompany their petitions with sworn court affidavit, failure of which attracts a six- month imprisonment upon conviction.
The Bill, however provides for an option of N4 million for persons convicted of false newspaper, radio and television statements and N2 million for offenders of false phone text messages or messages on Facebook, twitter, Instagram, or WhatsApp.
“Where any person in order to circumvent this law makes any allegation and or publish any statement, petition in any paper, radio, or any medium of whatever description, with malicious intent to discredit or set the public against any person or group of persons, institutions of government, he shall be guilty of an offence and upon conviction, shall be liable to an imprisonment term of two years or a fine of N4,000,000.00”, the bill specified.

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On the social media, the bill read: “Where any person through text message, tweets, WhatsApp or through any social media post any abusive statement knowing same to be false with intent to set the public against any person and group of persons, an institution of government or such other bodies established by law shall be guilty of an offence and upon conviction, shall be liable to an imprisonment for two years or a fine of N2,000,000.00 or both fine and imprisonment.”
Speaking during plenary, Senator Na’Allah sought support for accelerated consideration of the bill, and said: “Our past has portrayed us as a society where by mere expedience of writing a frivolous petition against public officials, you can have their right abused by taking certain measures that practically took away their right of presumptions of innocence only to be found later that the petition, as strong as it appears, on the paper actually lacks merit.”
He added, “As a nation with strong desire to move forward, this negative trend must be reversed”.
According to him, “The question to ask is, whether having passed the Freedom of Information Act which gives unfettered access by the public information from government offices they would be right for this government to continue to waste valuable time and resources in investigating frivolous petitions from the same public, and I am sure you would find no difficulty in saying no to the ugly situation”.

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