Senior Research Officer at CDD-Ghana, Kojo Pumpuni Asante, says Ghana must carefully balance the protection of free speech with growing concerns about accountability and security in the digital age.
Dr Pumpuni Asante said the debate around regulating speech had become more complicated with the rise of digital platforms and misinformation.
“We got rid of criminal libel in 2001 with the expectation that really there have to be very limited circumstances for criminalising speech,” he stated.
According to him, developments in the digital space have revived concerns about harmful speech, misinformation and deliberate attempts to mislead the public.
“But as we have moved into the digital space, the concerns have come back again, mostly because of the variety of speech that may be misleading or misinforming, or deliberately harmful,” he explained.
His comments come amid heightened political tensions following a petition by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to members of the diplomatic community over what the party describes as growing political persecution and suppression of dissent under the Mahama administration.
The NPP alleged that state institutions were being used against political opponents, journalists and critics through arbitrary arrests and selective prosecutions.
The petition cited the arrest and detention of Bono Regional Chairman Kwame Baffoe for allegedly making comments about a judge and judicial impartiality.
But Dr Pumpuni Asante stressed that the challenge was not unique to Ghana.
“It is a global issue that we are grappling with,” he said.
He explained that countries around the world are struggling to determine how to protect free expression while also addressing legitimate concerns about accountability, public safety and national security.
“What is the best way to find the balance between the right to free speech and the issues of accountability or security?” he questioned.
According to him, these concerns cannot simply be dismissed because of the potential dangers posed by harmful or misleading speech.
“These issues are real; they are not something to be joked with,” he stressed.