The legitimacy of the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act 2024 has brought the federal government and thirty-six governors before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja, according to the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
SERAP is accusing the government of violating the human rights of Nigerians, including bloggers, journalists, activists, and social media users, and criminalizing legitimate expressions through the Cybercrimes Act.
Recall that on March 25, 2022, the ECOWAS Court ruled that Nigerian authorities should stop prosecuting people for online harassment or insulting public officials under Section 24 of the Cybercrime Act 2015.
The Court ordered Nigerian authorities to remove Section 24 in accordance with the nation’s human rights duties, ruling it to be “arbitrary, vague, and repressive.”
Although Section 24 of the Cybercrime (Amendment) Act 2024 was repealed by the National Assembly, SERAP contends that other provisions remain arbitrary and ambiguous.
The civil society organization is contesting the legality and compatibility of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act 2024 provisions with the rights to information and freedom of expression in a lawsuit filed last Friday.
The lawsuit claimed that the provisions of the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act 2024 make it possible to criminalize acceptable speech and punish bloggers, journalists, activists, and social media users.
The term of “causing a breakdown of law and order” in Section 24(1)(b) of the modified laws, according to SERAP, is ambiguous and vague, endangering peaceful and lawful expressions and opening the door for misuse.
The plaintiff added said that Nigerian authorities often weaponize the modified legislation to violate Nigerians’ media freedom and human rights, rather than using it to improve internet safety.
Additionally, the group argued that Section 58 of the Cybercrime (Amendment) Act 2024 defines “cyberstalking” broadly as “a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear.”
According to SERP, these provisions are a punitive and harsh attempt to address stalking and harassment issues without providing sufficient safeguards against misuse, especially when it comes to the peaceful and lawful exercise of human rights.
Given the organization’s support for human rights, the complaint contended that harassing those who are critical of the government under Section 24 of the Cybercrime (Amendment) Act 2024 directly endangers its employees, members, and supporters.
SERAP added that people’s livelihoods and human rights are being threatened and suppressed by the new legislation.
According to the organisation, “The vague, arbitrary, and repressive provisions on ‘cyberstalking’ in Section 24 of the Cybercrime (Amendment) Act 2024 are routinely misused to suppress factual reports by activists, journalists, bloggers, and social media users, leading to a chilling effect on human rights and media freedom.
According to SERAP, Nigerian authorities have a positive duty to uphold and defend media freedom and human rights as well as a negative requirement to desist from interfering with these rights.
“The right to freedom of expression is a fundamental human right for individual freedom and democracy. It serves as the cornerstone of democracy and is indispensable to a vibrant civil society,“ SERAP said.
The organization also cautions that the provisions of Section 24 of the Cybercrime (Amendment) Act 2024 disproportionately penalize the accused, inevitably restricting public discussion and debate on issues of legitimate public concern, regardless of whether the offense is classified as false news, criminal defamation, cyberstalking, or seditious libel of government officials.
The ECOWAS Court declared on March 25, 2022, that Section 24 of the Cybercrime Act 2015 violated Articles 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights because it was capricious, ambiguous, and oppressive.
In order to fulfill its responsibilities under Article 1 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Court also ordered the Federal Republic of Nigeria to alter Section 24 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015.
The new Cybercrime (Amendment) Act 2024 still makes “cyberstalking” a crime, despite the National Assembly’s 2024 amendments to Section 24 and other parts of the Cybercrime Act.
Its clauses are nevertheless ambiguous, capricious, and frequently abused by Nigerian authorities to repress human rights.