Government Using Cybercrime Act To Weaken Media, Says MRA

The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has decried what it described as an alarming escalation of attacks on media freedom and civic expression. It said the government had resorted to using Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention etc.) Acts through law enforcement agencies to silence or punish journalists and their critics.

According to a report released by the MRA, titled “The Onslaught Intensifies: A Mid-term Assessment Report on Media Freedom under the Tinubu Administration,” between May 29, 2023, and May 29, 2025, it documented 141 incidents of attacks on journalists, media workers, and ordinary citizens for the peaceful expression of their views on a variety of issue, including governance, economic hardship, the security situation in the country, among others.

The MRA said of these incidents, 61 cases (43.26 percent) were perpetrated by operatives of the Nigeria Police, while the Department of State Services (DSS) was responsible for seven cases (4.96 percent) with the two agencies collectively accounting for nearly half of all documented violations of media rights and freedom of expression across the country over the last two years.

It argued that the Tinubu led administration bears legal responsibility for all of these incidents, in accordance with Principle 20(5) of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, which holds that states are “liable for the conduct of law enforcement, security, intelligence, military and other personnel which threatens, undermines or violates the safety of journalists and other media practitioners.”

In a Preface to the report, MRA’s Executive Director, Mr. Edetaen Ojo, said: “we see threats to media freedom in Nigeria through the continued implementation of repressive laws, such as the Cybercrime Act which is frequently used to target, silence or punish journalists; the enforcement of politically motivated regulatory sanctions; arrests and detention or other forms of attacks on journalists; surveillance or intimidation of media practitioners; and censorship of government-controlled broadcasters, among others threats and attacks.”

Describing the report as a, “timely intervention in a political climate where democratic gains continue to face increasing threats from censorship, regulatory overreach, violence against journalists, and the misuse of digital surveillance technologies,” Mr. Ojo explained that its objective, “is not merely to criticize but to document, analyse, and illuminate the extent to which the current administration has either advanced or undermined the freedom of expression landscape in Nigeria.”

The MRA said among the most disturbing findings in the report was the continued abuse of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) of 2015, as amended, particularly its controversial Section 24, which law enforcement agencies have exploited to arrest, detain, and prosecute journalists and social media users over critical or dissenting expressions online.