Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan says it will not be worth the effort for any state institution to shut down social media.
He advised governments to look at the useful means of social media rather than considering ways of suppressing it.
He pointed out that governments which have managed to shut down social media have only “made gains in the short term”.
Mr Annan expressed these sentiments on Thursday, June 23 when he delivered the 2016 Kronti Ne Akwamu Lectures in Accra.
He was speaking on the theme: “Credible and Peaceful Elections: A Prerequisite for Africa’s Progress”.
The lecture is an annual event organised by the Center for Democratic Development (CDD), Ghana.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) had suggested at a media forum that the Ghana Police Service was considering a social media blackout on the eve and day of the 2016 elections.
The suggestion did not, however, go down well with many with some already threatening demonstration at such a move.
Addressing the gathering at the College of Physicians and Surgeon, Mr Annan said: “I don’t think it is worth the efforts”.
He explained that world currently is more socially connected than before.
“What you shut down here is available elsewhere,” he maintained.
He, therefore, called for consensus building in considering such a move.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana
