SERAP THREATENS ACTION OVER BILL TO REGULATE BLOGGERS 14-04-25
By Sadiq Aminu Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen “to withdraw the repressive bill for an act to amend the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, which seeks to regulate the activities of bloggers operating within the country.
SERAP urged Akpabio and Tajudeen to ensure that any amendment to the Nigeria Data Protection Act promotes and protects the rights of bloggers and other journalists and does not undermine the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.
SERAP also urged them “to end the imposition of unnecessary restrictions on the rights of Nigerians online and Internet-based content.”
There is currently a bill titled “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, to Mandate the Establishment of Physical Offices within the Territorial Boundaries of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by Social Media Platforms and for Related Matters” (the “bill”).
The bill among others seeks to regulate bloggers including by requiring all bloggers to register local offices and join recognised national association for bloggers. The bill has passed its first and second reading in the Senate.
The request was contained in a letter dated April 12, 2025 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare.
The organisation said: “This bill is a blatant attempt to bring back and fast-track the obnoxious and widely rejected social media bill by the back-door.”
SERAP said, “If passed, the bill would also be used to ban major social media platforms—including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok, and independent bloggers if they ‘continuously fail to establish/register and maintain physical offices in Nigeria for a period of 30 days.’”
The letter, read in part: “Lawmakers should not become arbiters of truth in the public and political domain. Regulating the activities of bloggers and forcing them to.