The National Broadcasting Commission ( NBC) has said that it is in discussions with prominent social media platforms such as Google and TikTok to address the misconduct of their users.
Francisca Aiyetan, the Director of Broadcast Monitoring at NBC, discussed the commission’s intention to regulate social media in an interview with Daily Trust on Friday.
She warned that without regulation, social media might mislead young people.
- “Every country is making efforts to regulate social media, and Nigeria also is making efforts because we know that there are a lot of things to harness from it. But if not regulated, it can also be a platform that will misguide our young people.
- “The level we are now is discussing with stakeholders so to agree that, yes, we need to regulate social media and at that level, there should be legislation; there should be strengthening of the law to factor in all the things that are new on the broadcasting and content sharing space.
- “And then, when you have the power and the enablement by law to do such things, then we can now look at, do we have the way to do it technology-wise? Nevertheless, presently what we do is that we engage the platform owners as a regulator, we engage Google YouTube, and TikTok, so we know the faces behind these platforms.”
Backstory
Earlier, it was reported that Balarabe Ilelah, NBC director-general, said he has sent a bill for the regulation of social media to the national assembly.
The regulator said it is seeking to repeal and reenact the NBC Act, CAP L11 laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
Ilelah, who described the ills of social media as a “monster”, said the current law does not give NBC the right to regulate social media.
- “We want to tell you that a bill for an act to repeal and amend the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) act, CAP L11 laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, to accommodate the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting service, also to promote quality audio and video, efficient management of the spectrum, Nigeria Broadcast Institute, social media regulation and related matters has been read for the first time on the floor of the national assembly,”
- “All these that are mentioned are not captured in the present act of the commission. We have already submitted a bill to amend the act
- “One of our major problems now is social media. Unless there is a law that allows NBC to act on social media issues, the issue will continue to be a monster in our daily lives in this country,” the DG said.
