Credits – www.theeconomyng.com 


Recently, a blogger got
remanded by the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos for publishing certain
information about a bank MD which turned out to be false. The blog claimed the
MD had impregnated a certain lady which led to the dissolution of her marriage.
Needless to say, the story was false and the blogger was charged to court. Currently,
he is being remanded pending his bail application which is to be heard on September
1 before the Honourable Court. The prosecution argues that the blogger’s post
is in contravention of Section 24 (1) of the Cybercrime Act, which provides
that any person who intentionally or knowingly sends a message which is grossly
offensive or obscene and found to be false, by means of computer network, is
liable on conviction to a fine of N7, 000, 000 or three years imprisonment or
both.

Blogging is awesome,
especially for people who love to write, it is a great medium for sharing
thoughts with the world. It is also known to be a great form of investment
which can literally earn the blogger millions. The Linda Ikeji blog is a
terrific example. However, the excitement to post blogs and attract online
traffic should not come as a result of spreading falsehoods or defaming character,
rather it should be as a result of publishing superior content. Though we all
know that gossip sells better in some instances and attracts more fans too.
Bloggers have in the past been accused of malice and ill-intentions when
stories are published on their blogs. Most of these posts are usually unverified
and could be misleading. 
Bloggers, must however now
be very careful of what they post as the Federal Government has passed a law
declaring a number of online acts done by many to be a crime. For instance,
section 24 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition Prevention) Act, 2015 states:
“Any
  person   who   knowingly   or   intentionally  
sends   a   message   or   other   matter   by means
of  computer  systems  or  network  that:
  
(a)
  is   grossly   offensive,   pornographic   or  
of   an   indecent,   obscene   or   menacing  character
 or  causes  any  such  message  or  matter
 to  be  so  sent;  or
(b)
  he   knows   to   be   false,   for   the
  purpose   of   causing   annoyance,   inconvenience,
danger,   obstruction,   insult,   injury,   criminal
  “intimidation,   enmity,   hatred,   ill   will
    or  needless  anxiety  to  another  or
 causes  such  a  message  to  be  sent: commits
 an  offence  under  this  Act  and  shall
 be  liable  on  conviction  to  a  fine
 of  not  more  than  N7,000,000.00  or
 imprisonment  for  a  term  of  not  more
 than  3  years  or  to  both  such
 fine  and  imprisonment.”
 

Credits -Google

In its
subsection (2), the law also states that any  person  who
 knowingly  or  intentionally  transmits  through
 a  computer  system  or  network —
(a)
  to   bully,   threaten   or   harass   another
  person,   where   such   communication   places
 another  person  in  fear  of  death,
 violence    or    bodily  harm  or  to
 another  person; Cyberstalking.
(b)
 containing  any  threat  to  kidnap  any
 person  or  any  threat  to  harm  the
 person  of  another,   any   demand   or  
request   for   a   ransom   for   the  release
  of   any   kidnapped  person,   to   extort
  from   any   person,   firm,   association   or
  corporation,   any   money   or  other  thing
 of  value;  or
(c)
 containing  any  threat  to  harm  the
 property  or  reputation  of  the  addressee
 or  of  another   or   the   reputation  
of   a   deceased person   or   any   threat   to
  accuse   the  addressee   or   any   other
  person   of   a   crime,   to   extort  
from   any   person,   firm,  association,  or
 corporation,  any  money  or  other  thing
 of  value: commits  an  offence  under  this
 Act  and  shall  be  liable  on  conviction.
(i)
 in  the case  of  paragraphs  (a)  and  (b)
 of  this  subsection  to  imprisonment  for
 a  term  of  10  years  and/or  a
 minimum  fine  of
N25,000,000.00;
 and(ii)  in  the  case  of  paragraph  (c)
 and  (d)  of  this  subsection,  to
 imprisonment  for  a  term  of  5  years
 and/or  a  minimum  fine  of  N15,000,000.00.

From the foregoing, it is obvious
that any blogger who fails to pay detailed attention to the information being
shared via their respective blogs and ensures that same is not false and
malicious may end up at the Federal High Court being charged for defamation. The period of jail time stipulated in the law and the fines which may be imposed on anyone found guilty of breaching these laws are very steep. I
therefore insist that you kindly watch what you blog about on the internet.
Adedunmade Onibokun
@adedunmade