By CHARLES IWUOHA

The Leadership and Entrepreneurship Advocacy (LEAD) Network Africa, an NGO, has urged the Federal Government to take advantage of the online or social media space by implementing friendly regulations to harness taxes.

Executive Director of the group, Mr Chukwuma Okenwa, made the call while speaking in Enugu on Friday on theme: “Social Media Regulation: Impact and Implications.”

Okenwa noted that the government could actually generate revenue from the social media by way of taxes rather than imposing inhibiting policies.

According to him, government should resist the temptation of imposing inhibiting policies and laws on online social media, which would be authoritarian.

“So, I commend the move by the Federal Government to tax social media companies.

It is right because online or social media companies generate commercial revenues from the nation,” he said.

Okenwa, who is a human development expert, underscored the need for healthy control of the social media that would still give people freedom to express themselves without being hateful or instigating violence.

“So basically, within the boundaries of a liberal law, there can be a safe environment for everyone to express themselves and engage in community building.

“This will be possible if the government is able to come up with a template to help people achieve that without really crossing boundaries, then you have a people-friendly regulation in place,” he said.

He called for more friendly regulations where online and social media platforms, on their own, could pull down messages it considered harmful, fake and unverified.

“However, Nigerians should always consider the implications of the things they push on the online or social media platforms before publishing them to ensure it is used to promote peace, security and development purposes,” he said.

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