The United Nations and the United Kingdom have dismissed the capital punishment which has been proposed in the Hate Speech Bill sponsored by Senate Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Sabi Abdullahi, describing it as barbaric and unacceptable.
According to the spokesperson of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Olusola Macaulay via a telephone interview with Punch newspapers, he said that the global body would not support the bill and confirmed that UNESCO advocacy group, Media and Information Literacy Coalition, would soon meet with the National Assembly over the proposed legislation.
He said, “They are working to meet with the National Assembly to express their mind and possibly advise the government to have a different narrative to the issue of hate speech and fake news.”
“what was needed is public enlightenment and education about hate speech and not a law stipulating the death penalty for violators.
“I’m not sure what the government needs now is a bill or an idea to shut down people or prevent people from being able to express themselves or express their freedom of thought or information. What I think the government should do more is to enlighten the people,” Macaulay added.
The UN spokesperson acknowledged that most Nigerians are ignorant of issues relating to media and information literacy dismissing the harsh law as a solution to the challenge.
The affirmed saying:
‘Every human being has the right to life and you cannot cut off people’s lives just because someone has expressed his opinion, regardless to the fact that hate speech and fake news have been there from time immemorial and it is barbaric to say now that we want to hang people because they expressed their feelings’.
Macaulay queried the government for not holding politicians engaging in hate speech to account, noting that many of them had said things that could destabilise the country without being held liable.
In the same vein, the British Government has also lent its voice, saying that it supports the right of individuals to express opinions and peacefully challenge authority as an essential part of a free and open society.
According to an email response by the Senior Press and Public Affairs Officer of British High Commission, Chris Ogunmodede, he said the the UK government is closely following the discussion around the proposed ‘Hate speech bill, and has strongly taken a stand against hate speech which could incite violence and damage relationships within the society, however, it supports “the right of individuals to express opinions and peacefully challenge authority as an essential part of a free and open society.”
“The UK strongly opposes the inclusion of the death penalty in any piece of legislation, as a matter of principle,” He affirmed.
THE CONTROVERSIAL ‘HATE SPEECH’ BILL
The ‘National Commission for the prohibition of hate speech ‘bill proposed that ‘any person who violates the law shall be liable of life imprisonment and (or) whereby the act causes any loss of life, the accused if found guilty shall be prosecuted to death by hanging’.
More :
–Senate moves to criminalise hate speech
–Senate Disassociates Itself From ‘Hate Speech’ Bill
–Independence Day: We’ll Take Decisive Action against Hate Speech-Buhari
#SayNoToSocialMediaBill Trends Nationwide
On the other hand, there was a massive outcry by concerned Nigerians who took to Twitter on Friday to raise their voices against the bill with the hashtag – #SayNoToSocialMediaBill.
However, it was noted that a higher number of Senators voted in favour of the passage of the Bill while Chimaroke Nnamani (PDP, Enugu East) opposed it.
A cross-section of Nigerians condemned the bill saying it is an infringement of constitutional right to free speech.
SEE TWEETS:
The hate speech bill has scaled second reading at the plenary and has now been referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, which has four weeks to complete its legislative groundwork, one of which is conducting a public hearing on it.
