National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has revealed that that a bill it sponsored to repeal and reenact the NBC Act CAP L11 laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, has passed the first reading at the national assembly. NBC noted that the purpose of sponsoring the bill is to regulate Nigeria’s social media space.
Balarabe Ilelah, the NBC Director-General, who made this on Tuesday when he hosted Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information at the commission’s headquarters, described the “ills of social media as a monster”.
He said: “We want to tell you that a bill for an act to repeal and amend the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) act, CAP L11 laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, to accommodate the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting service, also to promote quality audio and video, efficient management of the spectrum, Nigeria Broadcast Institute, social media regulation and related matters has been read for the first time on the floor of the national assembly.”
The NBC boss noted that all that were mentioned in his comment are not captured in the present act of the commission.
“We have already submitted a bill to amend the act. One of our major problems now is social media. Unless there is a law that allows NBC to act on social media issues, the issue will continue to be a monster in our daily lives in this country,” Mr. Ilelah said.
