Kolawole Oluwadare is the Deputy Director of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP). In this exclusive interview with THE WHISTLER on the sidelines of a training workshop/interactive session on ‘Promoting Citizens’ Access to Information, Data and Digital Rights in Nigeria’, held in Lagos, he discusses issues around social media regulation, achievements and challenges of SERAP.
Excerpts:
SERAP For Years Has Been Championing The Cause Of The Nigerian People Through Legal Actions Against The Government On Its Policies And Actions. What Is The Success Rate Of All Your Legal Actions So Far On A Scale Of 100 Percent?
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You would also need to understand what you mean by success. For instance, would success mean in this instance completion of the cases – that is final determination by the courts? Or would success mean a positive win – that is we have judgment in our favour? Or would success mean that those judgements are now implemented and enforced? Those are the three major things we need to think of when we are talking about context.
First, as to the rate, the pace, and the time for the cases. The average is always two to three years for one case. Sometimes some go as much as four to five years. But you have to also understand the challenges of the judiciary, which of course does not exempt us from those negative consequences; which is why the cases are very slow.
Secondly as to whether the cases are in our favour. Yes. I would say we have a return rate of more than 80 per cent success rate in our cases where the judgments are delivered in our favour. As to the third ratio of whether those judgements are enforced, I would say that is very, very low.
Perhaps in the 5 to 10 percentile. But that does not mean that those lawsuits and the judgments do not impact government policies and actions or people’s perception of transparency and accountability. But that may be a bit too difficult to measure, but it also impacts as well.
The Issue Of Regulating Social Media Is One That Has Continued To Generate Divergent Views In The Public Space. With Some Concerns On The Negative Impact Of Social Media. Is It Time To Regulate It?
Again, it would depend on what you mean by regulate. And that is why it is important to understand the context when people use this word. Who is the person campaigning for the regulation of social media? What does he or she represent?
From the perspective of government and public institutions, one would understand that this is against the backdrop of what they have seen as social media being a tool of freedom of expression that is sometimes or most times deemed as being critical of the government. And it is also very possible; I think we have proof of that already, that government perceives social media as a tool of political participation.
Social media is a tool of freedom of expression. Sometimes it is for politics, sometimes it is for governance. But most times for governance because politics is also an aspect of governance. Social media does not need regulation in that sense.
Perhaps people would wonder about the things that people have said and (how they have) misused social media. The answer is that there are enough laws and regulations that would take care of those things.
For instance here today, we have discussed data and digital rights. We have seen that data and digital rights are also rights that would apply to the fundamentals of Nigerians and in real time it would apply to them online. For instance, if you say something negative about somebody on social media that is defamatory, of course, the laws of defamation would apply; whether it is said in person or online it is still the same.
If you say something or do something criminal or defraud someone online, the criminal laws of fraud would still apply to you. So do we need a special law to regulate our conduct on social media? The answer is no. We have enough regulations and laws already, as they apply offline, so they apply online.
But the basis where the government wants to regulate social media is because it is a tool that the government has seen that enables people to express themselves freely. And most times, they are critical of the government’s actions.
Recently, You Issued An Open Letter To The Leadership Of The National Assembly Asking Them To Reject A Reintroduced Bill Intending To Regulate Social Media. What Do You Intend To Achieve?
This is to prevent any kind of bill that would regulate social media against the backdrop of what I have said is the perceived motive of the government for wanting to make a law to regulate social media. It is not necessary. This is clearly seen from the statement credited to the NBC (National Broadcasting Commission) where NBC described social media as a monster.
Does it mean that the various government agencies that use social media to disseminate information are also using a monster? Does it mean that even the president himself who used social media as a form of campaign also used this monster? And that is why the National Assembly and all Nigerians must understand, social media is a tool of expression just like every other media.
The only thing it does differently perhaps is that it gives more access to people to engage and participate in governance, which is a good thing at least within the context of democracy.
What Would You Say Are The Biggest Achievements Of SERAP In The Last Four Years?
A lot quite. Citizen education, holding the government to account, engaging the citizens to know their rights and obligations and being able to use it to hold government to account. We have had many successes.
We have had lots of judgements, litigations and outcomes. We have gotten a judgment that declared the Twitter ban (now X) as unlawful and part of the litigation also pressured the government to lift that ban. We have had many successes.
But much more importantly, the successes we have had, is the level of awareness of the people about their human rights, about the duty and powers they have to hold government to account. I would think that is the major outcome of our advocacy initiatives over the years.
In Your Quest To Holding Government To Account, What Would You Say Are The Challenges You Are Usually Confronted With?
I think the major challenge out of many would be the wrong perception of our advocacy as being politically motivated. So a cross-section of the people that may be motivated by political inclination and motive, sometimes tribal and religious, perceive our advocacy for good governance as being politically motivated.
Some are mischievous in nature, which is why our advocacy has been consistent in that we are advocating for good governance, which would benefit everyone. We are advocating for transparency and accountability, which would benefit everyone. I think that the wrong perception forms one of the major barriers to our work.