Police, military shouldn’t monitor social media - Shehu Sani

Neither the Nigeria Police Force nor the Military or any security outfit in Nigeria has business monitoring social media under the guise of tracking hate speech, Senator Shehu sani has said.

Shehu Sani who represents Kaduna Central Zone in the Senate, likened monitoring of social media by security agencies to giving the security agents blank check to humiliate every person expressing his opinion on issues that affect them as bona-fide citizens.

The lawmaker who was reacting over the weekend to recent resolve of the Nigerian Army to go after those who make inciting statement on social media such as Facebook and Tweeter, said the Senate was already working on a bill that would address any form of hate speech.

He said, “The military and the police have no business monitoring the social media. We at the National Assembly, in particular in the Senate, the bill is on the way that will clearly define what hate speech is. This will prevent giving security agencies the blank check to go after each and every person who speaks.”

He indicated however that freedom of speech was not absolute.

“Those who want to exploit the right to freedom of speech to incite people to cause disharmony, to dismember this country, to derogate other persons or to violate religion and other sensitivities of others are the ones we should do away with,” he said.