The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), says the Federal Government needs to revisit the National Broadcasting Commission amendment of the broadcasting code.
Osinbajo said this on Friday during a session with the Vice President of Facebook, Policy and Communication, Nick Clegg.
The code, which has stirred a lot of controversy, seeks to regulate content exclusivity, content sharing and empower the NBC to determine prices at which content is sold to sub-licensees by rights holders.
Also, the fine for hate speech has been increased from N500,000 to N5 million.
Osinbajo said there is the need to take a second look at the code so as not to “stifle the work of hardworking, creative people”.
He said: “The NBC Code is one where there is now activity around trying to take a second look at it.
“Those who say that it is pro-competition, it is one I think we should take a second look at.
“Basically, it says if you have a licenced product for TV, you’re expected to share it with other platforms.
“It’s one which I understand the argument of those who say this is a violation of copyright and intellectual property, which is a very strong point and this is why I think we have to take a second look at it and see whether there are ways of moderating it to be more acceptable so as not stifle the work of very very hardworking, creative people.”
The Chairman of the Board of the NBC, Ikra Aliyu Bilbis, had accused the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, of amending the country’s broadcasting code “unilaterally” without involving the relevant stakeholders.