President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered security agencies to address “the propagation of hate speech”, especially through social media.
The order was given at a security meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja on Thursday, January 25, 2018
Addressing newsmen after the meeting, Minister of defence,Mansur Dan Ali described the trend of hate speech on social media as worrisome.
“Relevant security agencies should as a matter of urgency tackle the propagation of hate speeches through the social media, particularly by some notable Nigerians,” Ali said.
This development is coming a few months after the Defence Headquarters revealed that citizens are being monitored for “hate speech, anti-government and anti-security information” on social media.
The defence spokesperson, John Enenche, who hinted at the operation in an interview with Channels Television did not elaborate on the type of speeches that military deemed as constituting “hate” or “anti-government.”
Mr. Enenche, a major general, put Nigerians on notice about the tracking programme two days after Mr. Buhari himself expressed concerns about emerging tone on social media.
“I was distressed to notice that some of the comments, especially in the social media have crossed our national red lines by daring to question our collective existence as a nation,” the president said in a nationwide address August 21, 2017.
