Osinbajo says regulating social media is a bad idea

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has withdrawn his stance on social media regulation, opposing the federal government's plan to regulate it, saying he's not in support of a move like that.

Nigeria's number two citizen had in January, 2019, called for social media regulation, saying it's the only way to counter the phenomenon of hate speech.

Osinbajo maintained at the time that social media was under multi-jurisdictional regulation, necessitating more collaboration among nations to regulate them.

President Muhammadu Buhari with his Vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo are reportedly on a war path in recent times [Twitter/@MBuhari] Pulse Nigeria

“In other words, shouldn’t we be looking at some kinds of conventions; some kind of agreements between countries, between nations that help us to regulate the social media much more effectively,’’ Osinbajo was quoted to have said by his spokesman, Laolu Akande.

In a new development, the Vice President says he did not subscribe to the Federal Government's plan to regulate the social media.

Osinbajo said this following a statement by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that the online media space in Nigeria will soon be regulated.

He noted, “I don’t think that government regulation is necessarily the way to go, but I believe that we as persons of faith and we, as leaders, and those of us who use the social media actively owe a responsibility to our society and to everyone else, to ensure that we don’t allow it to become an instrument of conflict and instrument of war.”

Osinbajo, however, cautioned Nigerians against the abuse of social media.

According to him, social media can precipitate war and violent conflict if used to misinform.

Osinbajo also warned against using social media platforms to promote religious disinformation, which he said could easily lead to a breakdown of law and order.