A court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has ordered Nigeria to change its cybercrime law by following concerns that it is being used to silence journalists and dissidents.
The suit, which was filed by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), a non-governmental organization, centred around Section 24 of the 2015 Cybercrime (Prohibition) Act which criminalizes pornographic content, false or aggravating information, and cyberbullying – as well as ‘insulting or stalking public officials online’.
The Act mandates a prison term of up to three years or a fine of N7,000,000 for knowingly sending a false message online, with the aim of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will or needless anxiety to another.
However, SERAP claimed that Section 24 violated the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of information, and that it was being used as a tool of repression.
ECOWAS stated: “The applicant contended that the since the passage of the Act, the respondent and its agents have used the provisions of the act to harass, intimidate, arbitrarily arrest and detain and unfairly prosecute users of the social media, human rights defenders, activists, journalists, broadcasters and bloggers who express their views perceived to be critical of the government, both at the federal and state levels.”
And it has now been ruled to breach the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to both of which Nigeria is a signatory, with Nigeria now ordered to amend the law.
Over the last few years, the Act has been used to jail some activists, critics and journalists for allegedly violating the provisions of the Act.
There are fears by observers over whether anything will change as only around 30 percent of ECOWAS’ judgments are actually enforced, with only a handful of member states having, as they should, appointed a national authority to oversee the process.
This week, ECOWAS called for closer collaboration with member states and national courts.
SERAP is now aiming to keep up the pressure, writing an open letter to urge President Muhammadu Buhari to comply and also ask the federal government to withdraw all pending charges against activists, critics and journalists and release them from detention, and to pay them compensation.
It stated: “The immediate enforcement and implementation of the judgment by your government will be a victory for the rule of law, the right to freedom of expression and media freedom online. This will improve citizens’ participation in their own government, and provide an impetus for the anti-corruption fight.
“By implementing the judgment, your government will be demonstrating Nigeria’s leadership within the ECOWAS sub-region, and sending a powerful message to other countries to embrace the rule of law and human rights”, SERAP added.
