We Don’t Control Social Media Platforms – NCC

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it does not monitor social media content but collaborates with stakeholders to create awareness and promote access to better service delivery.

NCC’s position on the matter came as the National Civil Society Council of Nigeria (NCSCN), led by its Executive Secretary, Blessing Akinsolotu, sought its intervention in curbing the worrisome trend of fake news and misleading content on social media platforms.

“We know that NCC, as the regulator of the telecoms industry, has a greater role to play in helping to curb the spread of fake news and incendiary content that Internet users put on social media platforms. Therefore, we want NCC to partner with us in this regard,” Akinsolotu stated during a recent visit to the NCC.

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NCSCN had requested the NCC’s immediate intervention to ensure that the content of the social media and the Internet are credible to enhance national social cohesion.

But Mr Reuben Muoka, the Director of the Public Affairs Unit of the NCC who received the NCSCN delegation on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, explained that the Commission’s mandate did not extend to control of social media platforms and contents.

Muoka added that the major role of the NCC as a telecom regulator was to facilitate the deployment of telecom infrastructure for different types of telecommunications services, including improving broadband that enhances robust Internet experience and ensuring fair competition as well as the protection of telecom consumers.

According to him, the mandate includes making services available, accessible and affordable for Nigerians who may leverage such access to engage in digital social mediation for the benefit of the individual, businesses, and the nation’s socioeconomic growth.

In performing its functions, the NCC promotes collaboration and partnerships with different stakeholders such as NCSCN, in creating awareness and promoting access to different categories of consumers in the country. He said the Commission looked forward to furthering collaboration with NCSCN in its efforts to align with the aspirations of users of telecommunications services across the country.

The NCSCN, a member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, commended the Commission for its people-oriented and consumer-centric regulatory activities.

The Council also seeks collaboration with NCC to spread messages of the Commission’s consumer enlightenment programmes to Nigerians in the grassroots through its over 100-member Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

Akinlosotu also invited the Commission to partner with the NCSCN in hosting a conference aimed at tackling the seemingly intractable diffusion of fake news, particularly on social media networks.