Bill to make social media platforms establish offices scales second reading in Senate

A Bill to mandate Social Media platforms establish physical offices within the territorial boundaries of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has scaled second reading in the Senate during plenary on Tuesday.

This was sequel to the presentation of the lead debate on “A Bill for an Act to amend the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, to mandate the establishment of physical offices within the territorial boundaries of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by Social Media platforms sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko (Delta North).

Leading the debate, Nwoko said that the bill which was read for the first time on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024 seeks to correct a glaring omission in how multinational social media companies engage with our country.

“Our dear nation, Nigeria, is not just the most populous country in Africa; we are also one of the most active when it comes to digital engagement.

“With over 220 million people, social media has become an essential part of our daily lives.

“According to the Global Web Index as reported by Business Insider Africa, Nigerians rank first in Africa and second globally in terms of daily social media usage.

“Spending an average of three hours and 46 minutes online. Platforms such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat have become indispensable to millions of our people.

“These platforms are not just tools of communication; they are ecosystems that influence our politics, shape public opinion, drive entrepreneurship and provide avenues for education and entertainment”.

However, Nwoko said that in spite of the enormous user base and the value generated from Nigerian participation, these multinational corporations have no physical offices in Nigeria.

“This stands in sharp contrast to their presence in other countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, India, Singapore, and Australia.

“Where they maintain offices to address regional concerns, manage content policies, and build partnerships”.

The lawmaker said that the absence of physical offices for these social media giants in Nigeria presents major challenges, including limited local representation.

Another challenge Nwoko said is “missed economic opportunities”, explaining that the absence of physical offices has deprived us of numerous opportunities.

He added that the bill also mandates that all bloggers operating in Nigeria must establish a verifiable office in any of the capital cities across the country.

Supporting the bill, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation, Sen. Kenneth Eze said that the social media space is one area that is being overlooked and that is very important.

“Because the world is going towards social media and their businesses are being done online and attention has been tilted towards that.

“It may interest you, Mr. President, to note that even those companies that used to have offices in Nigeria have closed offices; such as Google and Microsoft.

“And this has provided room to evade so many taxes, revenue that should be accrued to Nigeria. There are so many revenues that have been generated online today. Businesses and so many publications have been done online.

“But there’s no check and balance. There’s no way these companies could be monitored as to pay their revenues. So it creates economic sabotage and leakage of revenue”.

Eze urged the Senate to look into the bill seriously so that the industry, which is taking the wider space today globally, should be properly checkmated and the adequate revenue that accrues from it should be enjoyed by many.

In his remarks, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, said that “the world has gone so digital.

“ICT is doing better than the oil industry today so much so that even with your iPad, with your laptop, the only thing you can provide is just the address”.

“So I think the best thing is for the bill to go for second reading and after the second reading, when we have a public hearing, I think a lot of people should be invited to make their input.

“I am very certain that by the time we come back to a possible passage into the law, they will be much more streamlined.

“I don’t want the world to see it as if the Senate is trying to gag the social media. That is not the intention. The intention is for tax purposes,” Akpabio concluded.