A Bill for an Act to Make Provisions for the Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulation and for related matters 2019 passed second reading in the Senate.
This followed the presentation of the lead debate on the bill by the sponsor, Senator Musa Sani (APC, Niger East) during Tuesday’s plenary.
Leading the debate, Sani said that the bill was a 36-clause legislative proposal to provide for the prevention of broadcast of falsehood and manipulative contents using the internet and its intermediaries for transmission.
It prescribes sanctions to offenders with a view to deterrence and the penalty for defaulter’s ranges from a fine of up to N300,000.
Sani added that the bill also provided for the issuance of regulations dealing with the transmission of false statements of facts in Nigeria upon declaration.
While supporting the bill, Senator Ibrahim Gobir (APC. Sokoto East) said that there was a need to regulate the internet and punish offenders.
He urged the senators to support the bill to be passed into law.
In his remarks, President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan referred the bill to the Senate Committee in Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters for further legislative action and report back to the Senate in four weeks.
NAN
