Media prefer trial to blocking social media – GIBA

The Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) is calling on the Ghana Police Service to consider monitoring, arresting and prosecuting those who will use social media to perpetrate crime.

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), John Kudalor has planned to block all the social media platforms on election day tentatively on November 7, 2016.

The police had argued that the abuse of social media platforms by both political parties and ordinary Ghanaians has often created unnecessary tension in the country.

But President of GIBA Akwasi Agyeman thinks shutting down social media is not the way to go when Ghanaians are voting to elect a president and parliamentarians.

According to GIBA, blocking social media on the election day is just like halting the operations of radio and TV stations as they rely heavily on these platforms to spread credible information.

Mr. Agyeman said “the IGP may not understand the use of social media these days. He may see only the bad side but the good side is enormous so we shall engage them on what the constitution says on the media”.

The GIBA President said “if they will block the whole social media, it will mean as if you are saying the entire radio and TV stations should not work which is a human right violation because there is the freedom of expression and free speech”.

Mr. Agyeman admitted that “there are ways to clear the bad nuts among the system so we should check on the small bad nuts because social media is helping us. Some record audio and video via social media so if it happens that way it will worry us”.

He explained that some are using the social media to sell and to do all kinds of things positively so the police must reconsider their intention.