The Human Rights Journalists Network Nigeria (HRJN) has held a session at RightsCon 2023, the global conference on human rights in the digital age.
Themed: ‘I Can’t Speak: Digital Authoritarianism and Freedom of Expression in Nigeria’, the session was hosted in collaboration with Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and Avocats San Frontiers (ASF).
The session discussed the spate of attack against journalists and human rights defenders in Nigeria and Africa, as well as initiatives by different actors to ensure the safety of journalists within the region.
The session featured Jonathan Rozen, Senior Africa Researcher, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ); Angela Uzoma-Iwuchukwu, Nigeria Country Director of Avocats San Frontiers, France; and kehinde Adegboyega, Executive Director of HRJN as panelists; and Blessing Oladunjoye, the Deputy Director of HRJN and Publisher of BONews Service as the moderator.
Rozen who said the CPJ is at the forefront of reporting and gathering evidence of attacks against journalists, recommended the need for sustained pressure and solidarity as mechanisms that can help to fight the repression of the media.
Rozen, who cited the social media regulatory bill which didn’t see the light of the day at the National Assembly in Nigeria due to sustained pressure from the Civil Society sector, said much more can be achieved if stakeholders can work together to demand an end to the authoritarian rule of the government.
Uzoma-Iwuchukwu, whose organization is partnering with the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to protect the rights of Nigerians online and offline, said it is essential to engage government actors to begin to change their perspectives to the issues of safety of journalists, human right defenders, and the citizens at large.
She said “it is important for us to engage with the authorities, they have to see things from different angles.”
She also advised the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) to take up the responsibility of serving as a voice for journalists, and demand that the rights of journalists are adequately protected.
Adegboyega noted that the government under the pretense of regulating social media is infringing on the rights of the citizens, and limiting their access to information.
He urged digital platforms to “comply with globally acceptable human rights standard and not to comply with authoritarian decisions of the governments to infringe on the rights of the citizens.”
On her part, Oladunjoye emphasized the need for the government to protect journalists in the course of their duty, stressing that journalism is vital to true democracy.