Protection of minors and the need to strike a balance between national security and human rights were key issues as stakeholders discussed the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill (DRFB) pending before the National Assembly.
They spoke in Lagos during a two-day Legislative Retreat on Digital Rights and Digital Legislation organised by Avocats Sans Frontières France (ASF France) in collaboration with Paradigm Initiative (PIN) and the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) under the theme, ‘Strengthening Nigeria’s Digital Future through Rights-Based Legislation.’
The bill, which has passed its first reading, focuses on freedom of expression and access to information, personality rights and anonymity, data protection and privacy, cyber security, online safety and Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance.
Spokesperson to the Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, one of the financiers of the engagement, Jessica Odudu, noted that protecting digital rights was essential to enhance democratic values and public trust.
“While there has been a lot of focus on the digital economy, it cannot thrive without respected rights. We are proud to support this process, which brings legislators and civil society together to build a rights-respecting digital future for Nigeria.”
Country Director, ASF France, Nigeria, Angela Uzoma-Iwuchukwu, said the event aimed to strengthen digital rights laws in Nigeria to ensure they are forward-looking and rights-respecting.
She noted that the idea was to ensure that as technology evolves, human rights protection for Nigerians and all technology users also evolves to cater for emerging technologies, adding that stakeholders are working towards ensuring that technology is engaged to promote human rights rather than restrict them.
“As we have seen issues around freedom of expression, online also needs to be protected. When we talk about digital rights, we are referring to respect for traditional human rights offline, but now in the digital landscape.
All innovations around AI need to respect human rights and be applied in a non-discriminatory manner to ensure that no groups are excluded”, Uzoma-Iwuchukwu said.
Speaking, Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cyber security, Senator Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, representing Ogun Central, stressed the need to transition from analogue to a digital environment as society has transitioned digitally, stressing that while human rights are well-defined offline, similar rights need to be observed digitally.
His counterpart in the House of Representatives, Stanley Adedeji, called for a balance between digital rights and national security in addressing human rights violations in the context of AI and blockchain technology.
Executive Director, Paradigm Initiatives, Gbenga Sesan, emphasised the importance of the bill for Nigeria’s digital economy, highlighting the need for trust and respect for citizens’ rights as core pillars of economic growth.
Also, Dr Ifeanyi Nwankwo, a lecturer at Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany, highlighted the importance of anchoring digital laws on principles for effective regulation, expressing the need for regulations that are not overly restrictive but rather encourage foreign investors to comply with ethical standards.
European Union Presenters, Mr Heikkilä Juha, Adviser for International Aspects of AI and Julian Ringhof, Policy Officer for Global Aspects of Digital Services, spoke on global best practices on AI and digital services while the Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda, Edetaen Ojo, said that though there are several laws dealing with online issues, most of them are criminal laws prohibiting different conducts and behaviours, and creating punishments for them.
