By Nasratu Kargbo
The President of Women’s Forum Network Sierra Leone Sally Ndimawa Adams has urged the Minister of Information and Communications Abdul Rahman Swara to help sanitize the social media landscape so as to maintain peace in the country.
Adams made this call on the 18th of August 2022 during an engagement between CSOs and President Julius Maada Bio at State House on the August 10 insurrection.
She said social media was the main tool used to fuel the August 10 riots. She stated that social media is at its worst in the country, with people getting insulted and incited, and also subjected to the preaching of tribal bigotry, hate messages, etc. through social media.
She asked the ministry to ensure that they control social media especially as the country gets closer to elections.
“Enough is enough, it is time we shame those that do not want us to move forward as a nation,” said Adams.
She expressed dissatisfaction over the unsavory acts and condemned women who participated in the protest, saying they should serve as an example and warn their children not to be part of the protests.
She explained that when incidents of such nature occur, women and children suffer the most, adding that her organization condemns the action and that they do not want such to repeat to avoid the suffering of women and children.
She called on President Bio and his team to bring the perpetrators to book, because as women they do not want their children to follow the footsteps of the culprits.
The President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) Ahmed Sahid Nasralla called on Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora to “pipe down”, noting that it seems that these days members of the diaspora have been engaged in sharing vulgar and inciting messages via social media. “You open unregulated online TVs, radios, and Facebook live programs to talk about issues happening at home that you know very little about” Nasralla stated.
“When you succeed in burning this country, then you will not have a motherland to come back to and you will spend the rest of your lives as slaves in other people’s countries,” he said.
President Julius Maada Bio whilst speaking in relation to hate speech, and tribal bigotry amongst others, stated that society needs to stand up against certain individuals engaged in hate speech.
He added that Sierra Leoneans that reside overseas should advise their family members to live in peace.
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