New disinformation bill not meant to gag dissent – Sam George clarifies
The Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, has clarified that the new bill on misinformation and disinformation, yet to be laid before Parliament, is not intended to prevent people from sharing opinions on issues.
According to the Minister, the law has been necessary due to the influx of disinformation in the country, highlighting that the prevalence of false information has disrupted parliamentary functions more than once just in the past week.
“The ministry will be coming again to deal with the issues of mis- and disinformation with legislation to this House. And I will urge members of Parliament to support it”.
“Even in this chamber yesterday, there was misinformation. In fact, in the past one week, this House has carried out business on two occasions on the back of misinformation,” he revealed in an interview.
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Emphasising the threats that misinformation poses to democracy and public trust, the Minister called for decisive actions to confront the problem.
“It’s important that we take misinformation and disinformation seriously and deal with it once and for all. And crack the whip and make sure that persons who are actively engaged in this face the full rigours of the law,” he added.
The proposed bill is anticipated to spark important discussions about free speech, digital regulation, and the government’s responsibility in managing information dissemination in our increasingly digital world.