Jibriel Suliah Jagbesie, General Secretary of the New Media Association of Ghana, says content creators welcome regulation but are deeply uneasy about aspects of the proposed Misinformation and Disinformation Bill being considered by government.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, he stressed that digital creators are not resisting oversight, but expect clarity and collaboration in shaping laws that affect their work.
“We are happy we are going to be regulated. We don’t have a problem with that,” Jagbesie said, explaining that the industry recognises the need for standards.
“I think everybody needs to be regulated. But what we are scared of is the policing side of it. We are also scared about the accountability side of it.”
He argued that any mechanism to enforce the law must be based on clear rules, not arbitrary actions.
“If you say that I have done something and then you are coming to take my mobile phone for what I have done, you should be able to give me clear guidelines to tell me exactly what has happened,” he noted, describing the current proposals as lacking certainty.
“The new draft that we are seeing is vague, and most of our members are complaining about it.”
Jagbesie insisted that digital creatives must be part of the drafting process to avoid a law that stifles innovation or punishes honest mistakes.
“When something like this is coming, we should be involved,” he stated. He questioned the severity of penalties being contemplated, particularly for errors that traditional media also sometimes make.
“Even the traditional media sometimes get it a bit wrong. So if you get it a bit wrong, does that mean that you should be imprisoned for five years?”
While commending the government for initiatives that have supported creators, he said the bill stands out for its failure to engage industry stakeholders.
“The Minister, Sam Nartey George, introduced us to TikTok, so we can use our platforms to monetise and be able to get paid, so I think the government is working well with the other things. But with respect to this particular bill, we haven’t been engaged.”
