[ 2016-06-27 ]

Police backtrack on social media ban threat
Following intense pressure from the public, the
Ghana Police Service has stated that it will not
shutdown social media services in the country on
election day.

The Inspector General of Police, John Kudalor had
earlier suggested that a social media blackout on
November 7 was being considered as a way to
counter the activities of potential
‘troublemakers’ who might disrupt the election
process using these platforms.

“At one stage I said that if it becomes
critical on the eve and also on the election day,
we shall block all social media as other countries
have done. We’re thinking about it,” John
Kudalor had said.

However, speaking at Blogging Ghana’s Blog camp
on Saturday, the Director of Communications at the
Police Service, Cephas Arthur said the IGP made
the comments on the spur of the moment and that
there were no plans in place to ban social media
on November 7.

“The IGP used the word alternatives but it
looks as if nobody heard the other alternatives
that he mentioned because nobody is discussing
that. This was not part of his speech. It was a
kind of off the top of his head answer.

“Let us not be alarmed. The IGP is not about to
block social media on election day and we are
going to have our social media,” Cephas Arthur
said.

The IGP’s comments had generated widespread
criticism from the general public who felt such an
action would represent suppression of freedom of
speech.

Several bodies including the Centre for
Democratic Development (CDD), the Alliance for
Accountable Governance (AFAG) BloggingGhana, and
PenPlusBytes have criticised the Police Chief’s
words describing the idea as ‘undemocratic.

The United Nations (UN) has also waded into the
debate, stating that they would oppose any attempt
to block social media ahead of the elections.

The special representative of the United Nations
(UN) Secretary General for West Africa and the
Sahel, Mohammed Ibn Chambas said: “I should say
without hesitation that from a UN point of view,
we would be obviously averse to any steps that
will amount to restricting the democratic space,
particularly any steps that will be taken to
restrict the freedom of expression.”

Cephas Arthur admitted that the Service’s
visibility in terms of the online space was
negligible but added that steps had been taken to
address the situation. “If you went to our site,
you’ll see some inactive social media outlets.
We were present, somehow. With ICT advancements,
the administration is putting measures in place to
ensure that we are also strongly represented
there,” he added.

“It’s something that we are working hard at
and with the recent issue of abusing social media
and having the likelihood of checking out
information that could cause problems, the
administration is doubling up and a lot is being
done to permanently have a very strong presence on
the social media front.

“So I can assure you that we are there, we are
working hard and very soon you will see that we
are strongly represented and it will be like that
forever and we’ll keep on improving and changing
with changing times.”

Source - Ghana Decides

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