SERAP, NGE Urge FG To Review Cybercrime Act

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE) have called on President Bola Tinubu to push for the review of the Cybercrimes Act and stop its oppressive use against journalists, activists, critics, and other Nigerians.

SERAP and NGE urged federal and state governments to promptly release individuals detained nationwide under the legislation for peacefully expressing their views online

The groups, which made the demands at a press conference organised to mark World Press Freedom Day, also said that the use of the Act to lock up people peacefully expressing their views sends a chilling message to Nigerians that their rights will not  get priority under the Tinubu administration.

They further called on President Tinubu and the National Assembly to review all other repressive laws for potential free speech and press restrictions, amend them in line with constitutional and international human rights standards, and uphold media freedom and the human rights of every Nigerian.

SERAP and NGE also jointly urged President Tinubu to call on state governors, the Nigerian Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS) to uphold and ensure full respect for the rights of everyone in the country, including journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders and activists.

The groups stated, “Since the amendment of the Cybercrime Act in 2024, Nigerian authorities at all levels have consistently used the provisions of the Cybercrime Act, including the provisions of section 24 on cyberstalking, to harass, intimidate, arbitrarily arrest and detain and unfairly prosecute users of social media, activists, and journalists.

“Nigerian authorities at all levels increasingly use criminal defamation laws and other repressive laws to crack down on human rights and peaceful dissent, bringing frivolous lawsuits against journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders and activists.’’

The organisation remarked that after the National Assembly amended the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention etc.) Act 2015 in 2024, section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act “is still vaguely worded, arbitrary and easily lends itself to subjective interpretation and repressive use by the Nigerian authorities.”

They pointed out that because the provisions of section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act 2024 are so broadly defined as to expose them to abuse for less legitimate ends, Nigerian authorities have persistently used these provisions to crack down and violate the human rights of Nigerians, including activists, bloggers, journalists, and social media users.

“The amended Cybercrime Act 2024, despite the wide-ranging provisions in its section 24, still provides a vaguely worded meaning for ‘Cyberstalking’ in section 58 as a course of conduct, directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear.

“The provisions of the Cybercrimes Act 2024, including section 24, contain several broadly defined offences with harsh sentences that threaten human rights and have had a chilling effect on freedom of expression and media freedom in Nigeria.

Consequently, they noted, stories published online have been deemed ‘offensive’, ‘obstructive’, ‘insulting’ or ‘annoying’ with actionable consequences under amended provisions of section 24 of the Cybercrime Act 2024, even when the stories are true and factual.

They further pointed out that an international court had faulted the law.

“We note that the ECOWAS Court of Justice on 25 March 2022 held that section 24 of the Cybercrime Act is arbitrary, vague and repressive and, therefore, is in contravention of Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“The Court also ordered the Federal Government to amend section 24 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015, by the country’s obligations under Article 1 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, ” they stated.