Social Media Platforms have been directed to Remove, Disable or Block all contents not agreed to by one or more of the people involved that displays nudity , sexual act, deep fake or revenge porn within 24hrs of users upload.
The directive which was given by the Federal Government of Nigeria was contained in the Code of Conduct and Practice for online platforms recently released by the NITDA [National Information Technology Development Agency].
According to the content of the official document, online platforms have to “act promptly to remove, disable, or block access to content of such that exposes a person’s private areas, [full or partial nudity, sexual act, or revenge porn] where such content is targeted as an object of blackmail to – harass, disrepute, or intimidate an individual or group of persons.”
The Code of Practice also instructs that all active social media platforms should learn to regard any receipt of complaint to discard any unlawful content upon receiving a notice from a user, or any authorised government agency. The active platforms have also been directed to exercise a steady , earnest and energetic effort to ensure that no unlawful and targeted abusive content is uploaded to their platform.
ICYMI
The newly developed Code of Practice is the brainchild of the NITDA alongside the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Broadcasting Commission,(NBC) with input from active platforms such as Twitter, Facebook ( FB) WhatsApp, Instagram (IG), Google, and Tik Tok respectively.
In the Code of Practice, the Nigerian government requested each online platform with more than 100,000 Nigerian users to have an office and a representative in the country.
Other conditions include registration of such platforms with the Corporate Affairs Commission [ CAC ] as a legal entity, complying with tax laws and rules, abiding by regulatory and legal demands, and providing information about users on-demand, amongst other requirements.