Social Media, Public Participation and Legislations in Nigeria: A Review

There has been an increasingly high rate of public participation since the beginning of the 21st century, credited to digitising many aspects of human life. The emergence of digital technologies, especially social media, has dramatically transformed governance's nature, thus propelling inclusive democracy. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Blogs have played a considerable role in citizens' engagement in the Nigerian political arena, especially legislative consultation since the 8th National Assembly expressed its commitment to making the country's legislative process an inclusive one. Potentials aside, a double-edged sword perspective of social media has given rise to measures to check its influence on democratic governance, peace, and stability, thus evaluating its impact to the forefront of contemporary democracy research. There have been six (6) bills in Nigeria to checkmate social media's power and regulate the media space. Not one of these bills is free of controversies, not even the 2015 cybercrime act, which has been contested as a toxic piece of legislation that empowers the political ruling class to subjugate and oppress the press and the private citizens. Thus, this work empirically reviews the nature of the existing legislation vis-à-vis public participation via social media and recommends ways to properly integrate social media into legislative frameworks for improved socio-political engagements.