Legal practitioners in Abuja have said that pranksters and skit makers in Nigeria face significant legal risks, including potential imprisonment and civil liability, if their content constitutes defamation.
āIn an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Miss Fyafa Ismailu, a legal practitioner in Keffi said that unauthorized recording of individuals in prank videos violated provisions of the Nigerian Data Protection Act.
āShe said that the act required consent before collecting or processing personal data, including video recordings.
āāSecretly recording individuals in public can be considered a breach of the right to privacy,ā she said.
āIsmailu also said that skit making fell under short film production regulated by the National Film and Video Censors Board.
āThe lawyer said that the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention,) Act 2015 made provision for additional legal backing by criminalizing cyberstalking, harassment, impersonation and online defamation.
āShe said that any act that infringed on the rights of another person, including unauthorized videography or photography, was actionable under the Nigerian law.
āAnother legal practitioner, Mrs FD Gwom, also told NAN that prank content became problematic when individuals were filmed without consent, stressing that privacy rights remained protected under the Nigerian law.
āāThe risk lies in infringing on othersā right to privacy. Filming people without permission is an actionable cause of action meaning you can sue anyone who does it,ā she said.
āShe explained that laws on defamation, hate speech and public morality applied equally to skit creators, adding that freedom of expression did not permit abuse of individual rights.
āāComedy is legal, but once it becomes defamatory or incites violence, action can be taken against the violator,ā Gwom said.
āShe added that although skit makers were not specifically captured under any tax law, income generated from digital content remained taxable under personal income tax provisions.
āThe lawyers were in agreement that there was no clear regulation for skit making or prank videos in the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc.) Act.
āThey, however, maintained that under Section 24 of the act, there was punishment for harmful conduct carried out through digital platforms which prank or skit content might fall into if it violated peopleās rights.
āSection 24 imposes penalties ranging from up to 3 yearsā imprisonment or N7 million fine for offensive or false messages.
āIt also prescribes up to 10 years imprisonment or a minimum of N25 million fine for serious threats, cyberstalking, or extortion, with additional penalties for violating court orders.
āThe lawyers noted that while stricter regulation may be necessary, it must not stifle the fast-growing digital creative economy.
āThey called for responsible content creation and respect for consent to avoid legal disputes. (NAN)
