The Digital Freedom Advocacy (DFA) project is an emergency intervention that has been designed to mobilize Nigerians to ensure the withdrawal of the “Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulation Bill 2019” and the“National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speeches Bill, 2019” before the 9th National Assembly, through digital advocacy and a series of direct actions. These two newly proposed bills are the latest attempt to shrink civic spaces in Nigeria. These bills are a major threat to the human rights of women, young people and other vulnerable groups in Nigeria who consider the social media and other media platforms as their primary, if not the only medium of expression. The overall goal of the DFA project is to galvanize the citizens towards convincing the 9th National Assembly that the proposed bills are a threat to civic spaces in Nigeria and as such must be withdrawn. This is being realised through Social Media Action, Traditional Media Engagement, Direct Action and engagement as well as legislative action. Then a final reflection workshop with all the stakeholders including CFL and Voice Rightsholders, especially youth and women to reflect on the activities that dominated the DFA project and the successes, challenges and lessons from the project.  

Advocating for Digital Freedom in Nigeria 

Nigeria is no longer under military rule but the country is indeed not free. There has been a clamp down on freedom of expression as many who dared to speak up against the government are put under pressure in various ways ranging from arrest, allegation of fraud (political witch-hunt) etc. Due to this situation, many had fled the country. It is therefore not surprising when social media took center stage as the rallying point for Nigerians to express themselves. Then came legislative attempts from the government to also interfere with the digital space and shrink civic space through the following 2019 bills: 

• Protection from Internet Falsehood & Manipulation Bill; 
• National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speeches Bill 

Civil society organisations were quick to note the danger beneath this legislative move and rose to defend the digital space. Center for Liberty (CFL) is a coalition of groups who have been involved in popular social movements & campaigns in Nigeria such as #SayNoToSocialMediaBill; #AbujaPoliceRaidOnWomen; #EndSARS; #NaWeBeGovernment etc. It simply felt natural to have them lead the campaign for the recent attack on Nigerian digital space.  With support from Voice Sudden Opportunity grant, they took up the mandate to mobilise Nigerians to resist and ensure withdrawal of the two bills in contention. 

The Digital Freedom Advocacy (DFA) project had its challenges due to its sensitive nature but was able to make tremendous impact within the civic space. Through the concerted efforts of CSOs in Nigeria, the project was able to put on hold, all legislative actions geared towards passage of the two bills. The 8th assembly, the starting point of this legislative move has come and gone and CSOs are still enjoying the gains of the project. This success was achieved through strategic social media actions and through ‘direct actions’ of CSOs. One of the proud moments of the project was the reliance of Nigerian National Assembly on ‘Democratic Solutions to Hate Speech and Fake News in Nigeria’ (one of the products of the project), during their engagements with CSOs on the two bills.  

The project adopted two-pronged channel for strategic communication- from the media to the public and the decision-makers in parliament; and the second was to invest in a virtual public-driven medium for persuasive engagement with the parliament. One of the key lessons drawn from the implementation was that tactful flexibility could sometimes be more profitable than assertive rigidity.