Mercy Chinwo, Nathaniel Bassey: Let’s Fight These Bullies
As a strong proponent of freedom of speech, I am constrained to write this piece. In the last few weeks, I have been in a really strange space where I have been considering the possible regulation of social media. The space has been bastardised, seized by goons who now use it to bully people just because they have a phone and can afford the N100 data you need to cause disruptions. The comment sections of these platforms have now been turned to slaughter slabs where reputations are vacuously damaged. They just tear people’s hardearned reputations into pieces just because they can. The other day one came at me and called me a paedophile, the other called me gay and I gave back as hard as I could. I abused their fathers and blocked them. The issue of these beautiful gospel singers is just another sad occurrence on the gram. How for the life of me would someone go out there and make such banal allegations? All without proof o; just because you are chasing “clout” as they call it, you throw a dagger into the happiness of these families. Thankfully, I hear the right steps have been taken with the recourse to the police and the naming and shaming of four of the culprits. I think very seriously that once an example has been made, there will be some level of sanity. Finally, I also think we are gradually getting to the point where some level of regulation needs to come in. There are some words you cannot use on the net and you will not be picked up at international airports. That is regulation, the same must apply here. The cyberbullying law must be seriously enforced in the first instance while the National Assembly carefully looks into the need to apply some brakes on that place. It is really crazy now. Kai.