Government to Regulate Social Media In Nigeria” – Bureau For Public Entreprises

The Bureau for Public Entreprises (BPE), the Nigerian agency responsible for the sale of moribund government properties, is reportedly making plans to draw up possible regulations for the use of social media in Nigeria, Premium Times reports.

Citing the agency’s Director General, Benjamin Ezra Dikki, the online newspaper reported that Dikki expressed dissatisfaction over the government’s inability to place heavy restrictions on the use of social media in Nigeria, claiming that the BPE would apply its authority to regulate materials uploaded on various social media platforms.

Before now, the Nigerian government has contemplated social media regulations even as the country’s Senate President, David Mark, called for similar regulations in August 2012, but backed down after a serious social backlash greeted his calls.

It is uncertain if these clamours for social media regulations would really see the light of the day as even the country’s President, Goodluck Jonathan has a social media public relations team, all on the payroll of the government — a medium he uses to communicate most of his plans with Nigerians online