Communication Minister Sam Nartey George has refuted allegations that the government intends to impose regulations on social media. He clarified that the proposed bill from his ministry is focused on tackling misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech across both conventional and digital media platforms.
“We have never stated that our aim is to regulate social media,” he said during an appearance on JoyNews’ PM Express on September 30. “Our position is that using new media for broadcasting does not exempt individuals from the ethical standards upheld by traditional journalists. The same principles must apply.”
The Minister emphasised that the government’s objective is to promote self-regulation among content creators, supported by a comprehensive legal framework applicable to all forms of media. “We’ve discussed that with them, and then we are working on a misinformation, disinformation, hate speech and other incidental speeches bill. That is not just going to regulate social media, it will also regulate traditional media,” he explained.
He announced that the legal drafting of the bill has been completed, and the next step is to conduct broad consultations. “We will begin stakeholder engagements very soon, as the law has been crafted and the legal work finalised. These engagements will be part of the validation process before the bill is presented to Cabinet and subsequently to Parliament,” he stated.
Providing further context, Sam George emphasized the extensive work taking place at the Ministry of Communication, noting that the misinformation bill is just one of several significant initiatives. “We are currently working on 15 different pieces of legislation at the ministry. As we speak, part of my team is in the north, focusing on the innovation and startup bill, which aims to regulate the innovation and startup sector in our country and attract reputable venture capitalists,” he explained. The Minister also highlighted ongoing efforts to support Ghanaian content creators.
“I have had meetings with multiple associations of bloggers, and we’ve been dealing with TikTok. We’re getting TikTok to, for the first time on the continent, fly in a team to come and help our content creators do capacity building to improve their monetisation,” he said. He added that new payment systems are being developed to address long-standing barriers to online income.
“At the same time, we’ve set up an engagement between TikTok and GCB Bank to be able, in the absence of PayPal in the country, which we’re also working on with the Bank of Ghana, to offer a payment channel for our content creators here,” he revealed.
Sam George insisted that the government’s intention is not censorship but creating a balanced media environment where both traditional and digital outlets are subject to the same professional standards.
Source: Abubakar Ibrahim
