Regulation of free speech and the abuse of social media in Africa: Lessons from the united states of America

Information communications technology through social media has brought very good innovations. There is an upsurge in cases of hate speech and fake news. To check this, states adopt different approaches. While some states prefer statutory responses, others prefer non-statutory. However, in Africa, largely penal government responses are perceived as infringements on the constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of expression and violations of international standards. The objective of this paper is to examine how freedom of speech can be enjoyed while still minimizing fake news. This paper doctrinally evaluates the inappropriate use of social media in Africa and the criminalisation of certain speeches in Africa using statutes, constitution, law reports, and conventions., The paper finds that freedom of speech has been suppressed by state apparatus and legislation and recommends legislative control of social media, drawing from the lessons of the experiences of the USA.