Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, used the#EndSARSproteststhat call for an end to police brutality by Nigeria's Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), to convince the National Assembly of the need for social media regulation. According to the minister, fake news on social media fueled the protest which lasted over a week and caused the death of 22 policemen and 50 others.

Mohammed quoted the examples of China where Google, Facebook, and Instagram are absent, and Ethiopia where the social media was shut down for two days, following the killing of a musician during an unrest. He said social media promotes fake news so the National Assembly should support previous rejected bills on social media regulation, such as the bill onProtection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulationand theNational Commission for the Protection of Hate Speech.