Nigerian Government increases fine for hate speech from N500,000 to N5 million

The Nigerian Government has increased the penalty for hate speech in the country from N500,000 to N5 million.

This announcement was made in a statement by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture on Tuesday 4th August.

The Minister for information, Lai Mohammed, made this known in a statement during the unveiling of the Reviewed Broadcasting Code.

The statement said that the development followed a Presidential directive on the regulatory role of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) as well as the conduct of the various broadcast stations before, during and after elections.

The statement reads:

“There are many desirable provisions in the new Broadcasting Code.

“The provisions on exclusivity and monopoly will boost local content and local industry due to laws prohibiting exclusive use of rights by broadcasters who intend to create monopolies and hold the entire market to themselves. It will encourage Open Access to premium content.

“The law prohibiting backlog of advertising debts will definitely promote sustainability for the station owners and producers of content.

“The law on registration of Web Broadcasting grants the country the opportunity to regulate negative foreign broadcasts that can harm us as a nation. Such harms could be in the area of security, protection for minors, protection of human dignity, economic fraud, privacy etc.

“The provision on responsibility of broadcast stations to devote airtime to national emergencies mandates terrestrial and Pay TV channels to make their services available to Nigerians at time of national emergencies – like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – for their education and enlightenment.

“The provision raising the fine for hate speech from N500,000 to N5m.” The statement reads.

Read also:

US begins phase-three trials of a candidate vaccine against coronavirus

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *