{"id":232456,"date":"2016-07-19T19:12:31","date_gmt":"2016-07-19T19:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=232456"},"modified":"2016-07-19T19:12:31","modified_gmt":"2016-07-19T19:12:31","slug":"2016-election-social-media-ban-only-a-last-option-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/07\/2016-election-social-media-ban-only-a-last-option-police\/","title":{"rendered":"2016 Election: Social media ban only a last option- Police"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Ghana Police Service has rejected claims that it has revived its consideration of a social media shutdown in the country on election day to curtail irresponsible reports that could disrupt the process.<\/p>\n
The Communications Director of the Police, Cephas Arthur, said that the police were only considering a social media blackout as a last resort as part of security measures ahead of the elections.<\/p>\n
Several media outlets earlier today [Tuesday], reported that the Inspector General of Police (IGP), John Kudalor, had reiterated his stance on a social media shutdown in the country.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”oiZ8dIJcxLZCSriC6aRDqKTGh7RMUN9L”]According to the reports, John Kudalor, who was in the Eastern Region to assess the level of \u00a0preparedness of the Police command \u00a0in the region, had stated that he ‘stood by’ his initial comments to ban social media<\/p>\n
However, Cephas Arthur, insists that the police had not decided to shut down social media and that the IGP’s comments had been misinterpreted.<\/p>\n
He stated that the IGP was only recounting his initial comments which has caused so much controversy.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s unfortunate that what transpired has been reported the way it is. The IGP was on his regional tour to check the preparedness of his men for the election. As part of the activities, the IGP met the entire police populace in the Eastern Region. The IGP gave an opportunity to the media to ask questions on his maiden visit to the Eastern Region. The IGP was asked about his comments on the social media and whether he had changed his opinion.”<\/p>\n
The IGP then narrated what had happened previously, and said that “should all remedies fail and the only option to keep our nation\u00a0as one whole was to shut social media for the 7 or 8 hours that we are voting, he will do so.\u00a0He will recommend it. The whole thing is tentative so it\u2019s not as if the IGP has a down and taken the decision to shut down social media in this election,” Cephas Arthur said on Eyewitness News on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the project lead of Ghana Decides, a social media project by Blogging Ghana, Kinna Likimani, has urged the police service to ‘rise to the challenge’ presented by social media and not take the easy way out by just shutting it down.<\/p>\n