Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Information and Strategy has advised journalists in the state to operate in line with the dictates of the Nigeria Cyber Crimes Act, and laws of the federation of Nigeria.
The Ministry has further advised those engaging in the social media space to pay particular attention to Sector 24 of the Act which stipulates certain offences with their legal Implications.
Speaking at the One-Day Workshop organised by his Ministry on the theme: Cyber Crimes & Other Press Related Infractions – The Legal Implications, the Information Commissioner, Comrade Ini Ememobong, called on journalists and social media enthusiasts to become well acquainted with the law and shun cyber crimes and other related infractions.
Ememobong said the workshop was designed to enlighten and arm all classes of cyber media users to prevent them from running foul of the laws, especially as the 2023 elections approach.
“As people who are affected by certain legislations, we need to come together to look at the legal implications of these laws, so that we can properly guide and guard ourselves, especially in this political season,” he said.
Chairman of the occasion and Dean of Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Prof. Peter Esuh of the University of Uyo, in his opening remarks, affirmed that cyber crimes were crimes committed in the virtual space, and if not checked, could weigh down the society,
Esuh, who is Nigeria’s first Professor of Marketing Communication and Applied Rhetoric, asserts that cybercrime possesses the potential to cost the world about 10.5 trillion dollars by the year 2025 if left unchecked.
The Keynote Speaker, Ekemini Udim Esq, a Principal Partner at Justice Chambers on his part described Cyber Crimes as the use of computers and other virtual communication devices to further an unlawful end. He said the legal implications focus on the consequences of one’s actions or inactions.
The legal expert also cautioned journalists and other social media enthusiasts to pay particular attention to Section 24 of the Nigeria Cyber Crimes Act, laws of the federation of Nigeria which states;
“Any person who knowingly or intentionally sends a message or other matters using a computer system or network that he knows to be false, to cause annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill-will or needless anxiety or another causes such a message to be sent commits an offence under the act and shall be convicted to a fine of not more than N7,000,000 or imprisonment for a term or more than three years or to both such fine and imprisonment”.
“This is where journalists must be deeply concerned and worried, because in most cases, the words are subjective, thus can be interpreted differently or variously based on the standpoints of the individuals”.
He cautioned that section 24 of the Cyber Crimes Act, is like a dragnet that can accommodate a lot of items, and can also send many people to jail, especially online publishers.
He, however, allayed the fears surrounding the law, saying it was not bad because the law was made to check mischief-makers, carriers of fake news, and destroyers of fabrics of journalism and society.
The Keynote Speaker further assured us that journalists are protected by the law if their publications are anchored on truth or honest opinion.
The high point of the workshop was a panel discussion session on the theme of the workshop, anchored by a University Don, with lecturers, lawyers, security personnel and a Civil rights leader as panellists.
