Key highlights
- The NCC has said social media is not within the purview of its regulatory mandates but that of other government agencies
- It said the Commission has been working in other areas to protect telecom consumers
- NCC said it would continue to consult stakeholders on issues affecting telecommunication services deployments and developments.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said its regulatory functions do not include monitoring social media content. The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission (EVC), Professor Garba Danbatta while receiving a delegation of Food Basket Foundation International (FBFI), led by its Chief Executive Officer, Funmi Akinyele, during a courtesy visit to NCC Headquarters in Abuja.
Responding to the team’s request for intervention in curtailing the spread of misinformation through social media platforms, Danbatta, who was represented by the Director of Public Affairs at the Commission Reuben Muoka, said the Commission is not responsible for the content of the social media as there are other government agencies that are responsible for that.
He, however, said the Commission has engaged in several aspects of protection of the users of the Internet, such as initiatives towards Child Online Protection, COP, deployment of the Computer Security Incident Response Team, NCC-CSIRT, set up to monitor cyber-attacks in the Nigerian cyberspace, in addition to the activities of the Commission’s department of New Media and Information Security set up to address the issue of cybersecurity.
Protecting the digital space: While commending the Commission’s regulatory excellence and highlighting its effort in ensuring there are regulations, frameworks, and guidelines to guard the telecoms sector and online civic space, the team’s leader, Akinyele expressed concerns about the state of social media with uncontrolled content.
- She said the visit to the regulator was to explore areas of collaboration in its program to protect the digital civic space by combating misinformation and disinformation while mitigating risks to the digital civic space to ensure electoral integrity before, during, and after the 2023 General Elections.
- She explained that this initiative comes under one of FBFI’s projects, called Safeguarding Digital Civic Space for Electoral Integrity (SDSEI).
While foreclosing getting involved in social media content control, the NCC said it would continue to consult stakeholders on issues affecting telecommunication services deployments and developments, in line with its culture of inclusiveness, collaboration, and partnership as predicated in its strategic focus.
- “We have tried not to be a closed organization. We give lots of premiums to consultations and collaborations, especially in the areas that will ensure that the consumers and stakeholders understand what is going on and make input that enriches the quality of regulations, as well as being able to access the information they may require to safeguard themselves and the society,” Mouka said.
Nairametrics recalls that the Ministry of Information and Culture has been at the forefront of regulating social media in the country. The Minister of Information, Lai Muhammed, had had to issue several warnings to Nigerians to mind what they post on social media as it has consequences. The Minister also announced the ban on Twitter in June 2021 and lifted the ban in January 2022.