Nigeria’s digital economy has reached a turning point. Senate Bill 648 has opened a debate that goes beyond social media, asking who should take responsibility for the platforms shaping everyday Nigerian life. Adedayo Adejobi writes
For years, Nigeria’s conversation about social media has usually started from the same place, control. Who should regulate it? What should be allowed online? How should harmful content be handled?
But Senate Bill 648 introduces a different question, one that is less about restricting the internet and more about demanding responsibility from the companies that have become central to Nigeria’s digital life.
Sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko, the bill is coming before the Senate Committee on ICT and Cybersecurity for public hearing at a time when social media platforms are no longer just communication tools.
They have become offices, marketplaces, newsrooms, classrooms and sources of income for millions of Nigerians. That reality is what makes the conversation around the bill more complicated than a simple argument about regulation.
