NIGERIAN SENATE REINTRODUCES ‘HATE SPEECH’ BILL
The bill which seeks the establishment of an Independent National Commission for Hate Speeches, if passed into law prescribed death by hanging for any person found guilty of any form of hate speech that results in the death of another person.
Penpushing also reports that, the proposed commission is expected to enforce hate speech laws in the country and ensure the “elimination” of hate speech, while for offences such as harassment on grounds of ethnicity or race, the offender shall be sentenced to “not less than a five-year jail term or a fine of not less than N10 million or both.”
The bill also proposed that, “A person who uses, publishes, presents, produces, plays, provides, distributes and/or directs the performance of any material, written and/or visual, which is threatening, abusive or insulting or involves the use of threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, commits an offence, if such person intends thereby to stir up ethnic hatred, or having regard to all the circumstances, ethnic hatred is likely to be stirred up against any person or person from such an ethnic group in Nigeria.
“A person subjects another to harassment on the basis of ethnicity for the purposes of this section where, on ethnic grounds, he unjustifiably engages in a conduct which has the purpose or effect of (a) violating that other person’s dignity or (b) creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the person subjected to the harassment.”
Penpushing reports that, the charge would be justified if such a person intends to stir up “ethnic hatred”, it said, but the bill, however, did not make it through to third reading, and the reintroduction comes one week after the Senate reintroduced a bill that will regulate the use of social media.
The reintroduction also comes about a month after President Muhammadu Buhari threatened to take a “firm and decisive action” against promoters of hate speech and other divisive materials on the Internet.
Penpushing reports that, the sponsor said cases of religious and ethnic violence experienced in the past years in Nigeria informed his decision to sponsor the bill, stressing that, ’the bill proposes various ‘mechanisms’ to prevent cases of death which emanate from hate speeches.
