The General Secretary of the New Media Association of Ghana has stated that while his members are not opposed to regulation, they have significant concerns regarding the Misinformation and Disinformation Bill currently under discussion by the government. In an appearance on JoyNews’ PM Express on Monday, November 3, Jibriel Suliah Jagbesie expressed that they welcome the efforts to structure Ghana’s rapidly evolving digital media landscape.
However, he emphasised that the current draft of the bill lacks clarity and has the potential for abuse. “We are pleased that regulation is on the horizon and do not oppose it,” he said. “Everyone should be regulated. What we are concerned about is the policing aspect of it, as well as accountability.” He further explained that members are apprehensive about vague provisions that grant authorities broad powers to penalise content creators without clear justification.
“If you say that I have done something and then you are coming to take my mobile phone for what I have done, you should be able to give me clear guidelines to tell me exactly what has happened.
“The new draft that we are seeing is vague, and most of our members are complaining about it,” he stated.
Mr Jagbesie said the Association — which represents over 200 bloggers, photographers, content creators and online journalists — should have been part of the drafting process. “When something like this is coming, we should be involved,” he stressed.
He also questioned the harsh penalties being proposed for misinformation.
“Even the traditional media sometimes get it a bit wrong,” he said. “So if you get it a bit wrong, does that mean that you should be imprisoned for five years?”
Despite the concerns, he acknowledged that the government has been engaging the digital media community on several fronts, citing their collaboration with the Communication Ministry on digital monetisation.
“The Minister, Sam Nartey George, introduced us to TikTok, so we can use our platforms to monetise and be able to get paid, so I think government is working well with the other things. But with respect to this particular bill, we haven’t been engaged,” he noted.
Chairman of Parliament’s Information and Communication Committee, Abdendego Lamangin Bandim, who was also on the show, urged calm, saying the bill was still at a consultation stage.
He said the Communication Ministry had deliberately opened the process for public feedback.
“We are just starting the process, and somebody must drive through, which is the Communication Ministry,” he said.
“The Minister thinks that the best thing to do is to put the bill in its current form and allow public engagement. So if you have concerns, you can send your concerns for consideration.”
Source: Abubakar Ibrahim
