The Federal Government of Nigeria has through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), unveiled a new set of conditions for social media operations in Nigeria.
Govima obtained from NITDA that the new Code of Practice is to promote digital economy in Nigeria and that the conditions would benefit parties involved.
According to the NITDA, the new guidelines will revolve around legal registration of operations, taxation and managing prohibited publication in line with the Nigerian law.
In the report, the Info-Tech Development Agency lamented about the huge influence of social media on the Nigerian society.
“The Code of Practice sets out procedures to safeguard the security and welfare of Nigerians while interacting on these Platforms. It aims to demand accountability from Online Platforms regarding unlawful and harmful content on their Platforms.
It stated further explained that the agency is providing a robust framework for “collaborative efforts to protect Nigerians against online harms, such as hate speech, cyberbullying, as well as disinformation, and/or misinformation.
Additionally, NITDA said the social media platforms must comply with all applicable tax obligations on its operations under Nigerian law. Stating that it should aslo provide a comprehensive compliance mechanism to avoid publication of prohibited content and unethical behaviour on their platform.
Lastly, the platforms are expected to also report to authorities in case of harmful accounts, suspected botnets, troll groups, and other coordinated disinformation networks and delete any information that violates Nigerian law within an agreed time.
Report to authorities on harmful accounts, suspected botnets, troll groups, and other coordinated disinformation networks and delete any information that violates Nigerian law within an agreed time.
The Code of Practice was set up in conjunction with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), as well as input from Interactive Computer Service Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Google, and Tik Tok amongst others.
