New Nigerian Cyber Bill: Insult Someone on The Internet and Get 5years Imprisonment or 10m Fine.

The Punch is running a story about the new proposed Cyber Bill which is arguably meant to gag social media. It is a law i think the government is introducing to limit what is said on social media about people in office. Lets me honest, your teacher, doctor or the common man will not sue you for internet character defamation, only the rich top politicians in office.

When there are pressing needs in Nigeria, government can not give the basic amenities anymore, they introduce a bill to gag the media and freedom of expression. Well, here is the bill which isn't law yet:
Read the Bill after cut....

If you as a Nigerian internet user:

• insults someone else publicly, through a computer system or network, you have committed an offense and will be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than five years or to a fine of not less than N10m or to both fine and imprisonment.

• If you circulate or make any racist and xenophobic material available online, you get a jail term of five years.

• Cyber-criminals, who hide under the anonymity of the Internet to bully, harass other users of online platforms also risk jail terms when the law comes into full force.

• Anyone found guilty of posting messages deemed “grossly offensive, indecent, obscene” or messages aimed at “causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety” to another online user gets a jail term of 12 months.

• If you bully, threaten or harass another person, through “information and communication technologies” or posts messages online that contains “threats to kidnap or injure” another person, you will be jailed five years or pay a fine of N15m or both.

•  If you commit an offense against what the bill calls “critical national information infrastructure” which results in death, automatically, a death sentence will be prescribed for you!

According to the bill, Internet service providers will be required to keep all traffic data and subscriber information for the purpose of prosecuting those suspected of committing cyber-crimes. The service providers are expected to provide necessary assistance towards the identification, apprehension and prosecution of offenders, failure of which makes them liable to fines and or jail terms.

Part V, Section four of the bill prescribes the Office of the National Security Adviser as the co-coordinating body for all security and enforcement agencies when the bill becomes law.