NITDA Unveils Whitepaper on Framework for Online Harms Protection Bill in Nigeria
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NITDA Unveils Whitepaper on Framework for Online Harms Protection Bill in Nigeria
By Alabidun Shuaib AbdulRahman
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced the release of a Whitepaper on the Framework for an Online Harms Protection Bill in Nigeria.
This document, INCNews247 learnt was developed in collaboration with Advocacy for Policy and Innovation (API), an Africa-focused non-profit dedicated to advancing digital innovation and inclusive policy development.
The whitepaper aims to tackle the escalating challenge of online harm in Nigeria, building on discussions and key insights from Nigeria’s inaugural Content Moderation and Online Safety Summit, hosted by API in July 2022.
It provides context on the prevalence of online harms and the need for action, highlighting the government’s efforts to propose solutions to protect citizens and children online.
The document also provides rich resources on relevant conceptual ideas critical to the debate on approaches for regulatory action to combat online harms.
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It analyzes efforts from other jurisdictions and offers a range of ideas that can be considered for developing a framework in Nigeria.
The whitepaper will serve as a foundation for stakeholder engagement and developing a comprehensive, collaborative framework for a bill to protect Nigerians as they navigate online and interactive content.
NITDA and API aim to spark a national conversation on online harms and contribute to the development of a comprehensive legal framework that protects Nigerian citizens while fostering a vibrant digital ecosystem.
Stakeholders are urged to read the paper thoughtfully and respond with comments, questions, and suggestions to theOHPwhitepaper.secretariat@apiintelligence.org.
The secretariat will collate these responses and present them to the stakeholder groups for subsequent engagement before developing a relevant Bill.
The Agency has expressed gratitude to the steering team members, drawn mainly from Nigeria’s civil society, who participated in developing the whitepaper, and the Nigerian Human Rights Commission (NHRC) representatives for their efforts as steering team members.
The Whitepaper can be read or downloaded via this link: https://links.nitda.gov.ng/ohpb
