Sowore Sues DSS, Meta, X Over Alleged Rights Violations

Omoyele Sowore, the 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), has initiated two fundamental rights lawsuits at the Federal High Court in Abuja, targeting the Department for State Services (DSS), as well as social media giants Meta (Facebook) and X Corp.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by his legal team, signed by Tope Temokun, the lawsuits were described as a response to what the attorneys labeled as ‘unconstitutional censorship’ of Sowore’s accounts on Meta and X platforms.

Sowore’s legal team emphasized that the litigation concerns the preservation of free speech in Nigeria, stating that “if state agencies can dictate to global platforms who may speak and what may be said, then no Nigerian is safe, their voices will be silenced at the whims of those in power.”

“Censorship of political criticism is alien to democracy. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in Section 39, guarantees every citizen the right to freedom of expression, without interference. No security agency, no matter how powerful, can suspend or delete those rights.”

The legal team further noted that Meta and X must recognize that complying with unlawful censorship demands makes them complicit in suppressing the fight for liberty. According to the lawyers,

“They cannot hide behind neutrality while authoritarianism is exported onto their platforms.”

Sowore’s legal team outlined several prayers before the court, including:

“That the DSS has no power in law to censor Nigerians on social media; That Meta and X must not lend their platforms as tools of repression; and

That our client’s rights and by extension, the rights of all Nigerians, be fully protected against unlawful censorship.

We call on all lovers of freedom, journalists, human rights defenders, and the Nigerian people to stand firm. Today it is @YeleSowore; tomorrow it may be you.

This struggle is not about personalities. It is about principle. And we shall resist every attempt to turn Nigeria into a digital dictatorship,” the statement concluded.

Sowore’s legal action follows shortly after the DSS filed a five-count charge against him at the Federal High Court in Abuja, naming X Corp and Meta Inc. (Facebook) as co-defendants.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli