A member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Elliot has denied pushing for a bill to regulate social media over its role in the #EndSARS protests and shooting of unarmed protesters at Lekki toll gate, Lagos.
A Twitter user, Dr Olufunmilayo had alleged that Elliot was one of the members of Lagos Assembly that pushed for the development of a bill that would regulate and control speech on social media
Denying the allegation in a video posted on his Instagram page, Elliot said “Good evening. My name is Desmond Elliot. I just came out of a plenary sitting at the House of Assembly and before we finished, Dr Olufimilayo tweeted saying. ‘The Lagos State House of Assembly is developing a bill to regulate and control speech on social media and Desmond Elliot is said to be one of those pushing this. So the plan is to deny the Lekki massacre.’
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“Please, I beg of you, I beg us and everyone. This is not true, it is totally unfounded. Dr Olufunmilayo, why don’t you even verify? Aren’t we going through a lot already? It is not true, period. No State House of Assembly has the jurisdiction to pass any bill like this, it is not possible. It simply lies on the exclusive list on the federal level. You can’t. Every member has a right to say something but you can’t.
“The only thing I said towards social media was that the celebrities, social influencers and motivational speakers should know we have followers so we should please cut down on the hate narrative. Everyone is going through so much right now.
In response to the law maker’s video, Dr Olufunmilayo told Elliot to, ‘please release to the world what you said about celebs and influencers.’
He said, “Dear Desmond Elliot, thanks for your quick correction. In the spirit of honesty and transparency, can you please release to the world what you said about celebs and influencers, can you also let the whole world see the video of what you said about social media regulation? Thanks.
On today’s plenary session, I have reliable information Desmond Elliot blamed celebs/influencers for the carnage and went ahead to advocate social media regulation bill. The link to the video is http://lagoshouseofassembly.gov.ng/live/ It has been tampered with. Can they pls release the video?”
