#EndSARS: We will not support social media restriction – Oyo Speaker

Honourable Adebo Ogundoyin, Speaker Of the Oyo State House Of Assembly has announced that the Oyo State legislature will not support any attempts to restrict social media expression.

The Speaker disclosed this in a social media broadcast on Tuesday evening after the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, inaugurated the Oyo State Judicial Panel of Inquiry into Police Brutality, Violation of Rights of Citizens, and Unlawful Killings.

Oyo State Govt Legislature will not support any form of restriction on Social Media freedom of expression/speech in any way.

— Rt. Honourable Adebo Ogundoyin (@Adebo_ogund) November 10, 2020

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In his Tuesday broadcast, Honourable Ogundoyin said the Oyo State Government does not support any attempt to gag freedom of speech.

“Oyo State Government Legislature will not support any form of restriction on Social Media freedom of expression/speech in any way,” Ogundoyin said.

What you should know 

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, stated this month that the Federal Government has no plans of shutting down social media but must regulate it to prevent the spread of hate speech.

“Social media has come to stay and it will be an antithesis to democracy to shut it down because it is the fastest way of disseminating information.

“However, we must regulate social media in a manner that it does not become a purveyor of fake news and hate speech. We will not fold our arms to allow purveyors of fake news and hate speech to use the social media to destabilize the country,” Mohammed said.

Amnesty International stated that the proposed social media regulation which has been supported by Ministers since the beginning of the #EndSARS protests could be used as a tool to punish critics of the government.

The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata, said the Federal Government’s plan to introduce regulation of social media after the #EndSARS protests is suspicious, as the social media space is already regulated.