Social Media is considered a seamless but faulty source to pass and get information. In recent times, Nigerians have found different uses for the platform – politicians, for elections and Nigerians, for calling out bad governance. The reality of it is that while it is difficult to verify the authenticity of any information on social media, measures have been set in place to reduce fake news – users who are found wanting usually have their contents pulled down or their accounts entirely removed from the respective social media platform.

In Nigeria, regulating social media has become a recurring debate and on both ends, it is the people vs the politicians. Where Nigerians see all the good that social media have enabled them to achieve in recent times, politicians, on the other hand, believe that ‘in five years, if social media is not regulated, Nigeria will be no more.’

In 2019, a bill was proposed to regulate social media and its contents. The Social Media Bill attracted a “Stop the Social Media Bill! You can no longer take our rights from us” online petition campaign to force the Nigerian parliament to drop the process. The bill received over 90 thousand signatures within 24 hours. From 2019 forward, the government have always shared asinine reasons why it is important to regulate social media for Nigerians.

The #EndSARS protests and the increased criticism of politicians have caused political actors to continue murmurs on a social media regulation. Whilst, yes, social media users propagate fake news on the platform, any form of censorship by the government on social media does not bode good news for all. It is simply an attack on free speech.

On social media, following the reports of the Northern governors meeting with the president on the need to regulate social media, Nigerians have started a trend – #KillSocialMediaBill – which is aimed at reminding the government, especially the northern governors, that any attempt to regulate social media would not be taken sitting down.

Here are a few reactions: