Thoughts on Monitoring Social Media

By Msonter Anzaa

 

It emerged recently that the Ministry of Defence is monitoring the conversations of Nigerians on social media. This is a move to check hate speech in the wake of several provocative pronouncements made against certain ethnic groups by others in the country. Although there has always been a degree of friction among ethnic groups in the country, a new dimension was introduced recently when the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, gave the federal government an ultimatum to conduct a referendum in the South East regarding the secession of Biafra. Shortly after that, a coalition of northern youth associations gave an October 1 ultimatum to all Igbos living in the North to leave, although they have reportedly suspended that call. For a rather long period of time, these pronouncements were not roundly condemned and the proclaimers prosecuted as is expected of a lawful society. Consequently, hate speech and hate music went viral on social media with some of it sneaking into conventional media. This continued until the return of President Muhammadu Buhari and the notification by the Ministry of Defence that it is monitoring social media.

Since this became public knowledge, Nigerians have been reacting in various ways. There are those who are quick to argue that this amounts to infringement of the citizens’ freedom of expression. This group argues that citizens are free to express themselves however they want without any hindrance whatsoever from the government. There are also those who think it is high time the government did something about the war songs and war language turning our social media into virtual theaters of war with citizens calling for one another’s heads and blood. I belong to the second group. Although it is emotionally appealing to argue against government’s monitoring of social media, the reality of our situation dictates otherwise. Freedom cannot be absolute. Whenever one man’s freedom to swing his hand extends too far, it infringes on his neighbour’s freedom to keep an eye. Government has a duty to ensure both freedoms and cannot stand by passively without inviting anarchy.

Although I believe it is proper to monitor people’s activities on social media, I also understand the concerns raised by those who oppose this move. First, given the penchant of our institutions for abuse and political manipulation, Nigerians are concerned that this otherwise apparently well-intentioned move may be hijacked to spy on political opponents and muzzle voices of dissent in the country. Second, the people are worried that the monitoring institution may be unable to be an impartial umpire thereby promptly cracking down on hate speech from one segment of the country while glibly looking the other side when hate speech emanates from another segment. Third, people are concerned that once government effectively establishes control of social media, it will refuse to relinquish it even long after the security considerations that necessitated it have abated. These are all genuine concerns.

But Nigerians on either side of the debate need to realize that this intervention, no matter how imperfect, is better than nothing at all. There are several people on social media who abuse that platform by provoking needless acrimony along ethnic and religious lines. Some of these elements may be sponsored by evil people whose interests are served, at least in the interim, by our nation’s descent to anarchy. Others may just be not-very-responsible elements who think it is the duty of government to maintain order and peace while their own duty is to toy with that peace by playing with the sensibilities of our people. It is appalling to notice that those who constitute the bulk of these social media provocateurs are young citizens who in other countries are in the driving seat of responsible leadership.

Therefore, even though this may not be a comfortable idea, we must give the government some leeway in curtailing these excesses, and in the interim, this may involve monitoring social media. However, the government must summon courage to address the sociopolitical and economic imbalances in our system that predispose us to becoming a thriving industry of hate speech. We cannot hide from the fundamental questions staring us in the face. Why is there always something to quarrel about along ethnic and religious lines? Why does the average Nigerian feel threatened by his compatriots from other ethnic and religious groups? Whenever we can find the courage to selflessly address these issues – when we can evolve as a nation built on trust, common good and mutual prosperity – only then can we banish the fear of ourselves and relish our full liberties as a people.