Abuja, 11 November, 2020 / 5:24 pm (ACI Africa).
A Catholic Cleric in Nigeria has faulted government attempts in the West African nation to regulate social media engagement saying it is “an effort in futility” since State officials are not even “in control” of the online platforms.
“The government should not think of regulating social media. They should be very careful. You cannot regulate what you are not in control of,” the National Director of Social Communications at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Fr. Mike Umoh has been quoted as saying.
The Cleric who was speaking at an interactive session with journalists covering the activities of the Church advised the federal government “to abandon the idea of seeking to clampdown on the use of social media.”
“The best thing to do is for you to check yourself and re-focus, if the social media messages are against you,” Fr. Mike said during the November 10 event.
Noting that any move to regulate social media will amount to “an effort in futility,” the Nigerian Cleric urged the government to “concentrate more on the formation of characters of the youths.”