Ghanaian dancehall artiste Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jr., popularly known as Shatta Wale, has urged President John Dramani Mahama and other stakeholders to establish a clearly defined legal framework for addressing defamation, harassment and other forms of abuse on social media while preserving citizens’ constitutional rights to freedom of expression.
In an open letter addressed to President Mahama and dated September 28, 2026, the musician argued that Ghana’s response to harmful online activity should be founded on clearly articulated laws, procedural safeguards and independent judicial supervision rather than measures that could unnecessarily restrict legitimate public expression.
His intervention follows President Mahama’s recent call for a national stakeholder discussion on the regulation of TikTok and other emerging digital platforms.
The President made the call during a town hall meeting with members of the Ghanaian community in New York on September 25, 2026, where he raised concerns about misinformation, insults, information integrity and the wider challenges created by the rapid expansion of new media. He subsequently asked the Ghana Journalists Association and the Media Foundation for West Africa to facilitate discussions involving relevant stakeholders to determine how digital platforms should be regulated and whether the police should have a role in enforcing any future framework.
In his response, Shatta Wale said his position had been influenced in part by his own experiences as a prominent public figure who, according to him, has endured unverified allegations, public ridicule and damaging commentary.
He maintained that the phenomenon of abusive public commentary did not originate with social media. Rather, he said, it existed within sections of entertainment commentary before gradually spreading into online discussion forums and subsequently becoming significantly amplified by digital platforms that enable individuals with mobile phones to disseminate information to large audiences almost instantaneously.
According to the artiste, the consequences of such conduct now extend well beyond the entertainment industry, with traditional authorities, entrepreneurs, journalists, public officials and ordinary citizens also exposed to harassment, defamatory allegations and other forms of harmful online communication.
Shatta Wale nevertheless emphasised that any attempt to address these challenges must preserve the constitutional protections afforded to freedom of expression and media freedom in Ghana.
He argued that those freedoms should remain firmly protected, while stressing that they should not be interpreted as permission to issue threats, engage in harassment or knowingly circulate damaging falsehoods.
As part of his proposed approach, Shatta Wale called for Parliament, the Judiciary, security institutions, media organisations and civil society groups to work collectively towards developing clearly defined rules governing serious and proven cases of online misconduct.
He said such a framework should incorporate due process and independent judicial oversight in order to ensure that legitimate expression is not inadvertently transformed into a criminal offence.
The musician also proposed explicit safeguards for legitimate criticism, journalism, satire and political expression. In his view, citizens should not face punishment merely because they criticise the President, a government official or another public figure.
Another element of his proposal concerns the identification of individuals operating social media accounts in circumstances involving established cases of serious harassment or defamation.
Shatta Wale suggested that social media companies operating within Ghana could strengthen their account verification procedures by building upon existing identification systems, including the Ghana Card and SIM registration framework. He further proposed that platforms should respond to lawful, court authorised requests seeking the identification of accounts connected to proven cases of unlawful conduct.
At the same time, he cautioned against making the disclosure of a person’s identity a universal condition for participating in public debate.
His position is that legitimate anonymous expression should remain distinguishable from circumstances in which anonymity is allegedly employed to facilitate established abuse or unlawful activity.
On possible sanctions, Shatta Wale proposed that where Parliament determines that particular forms of online conduct should constitute criminal offences, any penalties should be proportionate to the conduct concerned.
He suggested that, for specified offences, Parliament could consider short custodial sentences of not more than one month, with the stated objective being deterrence and correction rather than punishment merely for its own sake. This remains a proposal contained in his letter rather than an existing legal provision.
He also urged caution to ensure that any new legislation dealing with harmful online content does not effectively recreate Ghana’s former criminal libel regime.
Ghana repealed its criminal libel and seditious laws in 2001 through the Criminal Code (Repeal of Criminal Libel and Seditious Laws) (Amendment) Act, 2001, Act 602. The legislation was assented to in August 2001.
Beyond the introduction of new legal measures, Shatta Wale called for extensive public education on responsible digital behaviour. He argued that legal reform should be accompanied by efforts to educate citizens about the responsibilities that accompany participation in the online public sphere.
He also encouraged the government and other stakeholders to involve representatives of Ghana’s creative industry at an early stage of the consultation process, pointing to the sector’s extensive experience with entertainment commentary, public criticism and social media interactions.
His proposals come as the government considers how Ghana should respond to the growing influence of TikTok and other digital platforms.
President Mahama has described the question as part of a broader debate about information integrity, noting that digital technology has effectively democratised the production and distribution of information by enabling almost anyone with a mobile phone to publish material capable of reaching a large audience.
The President has also indicated that he does not object to personal criticism or insults directed at him, but has raised broader questions about how Ghana should respond to misinformation, threats and other forms of potentially harmful online conduct. He has further called for stakeholders to determine whether the police should become involved in regulating aspects of new media and what appropriate mechanisms should govern the digital information environment.
Against this background, Shatta Wale’s intervention adds the perspective of a prominent member of Ghana’s creative sector to the emerging national discussion over online regulation, accountability and freedom of expression.
He said any eventual framework should seek to establish responsibility for unlawful conduct while maintaining the constitutional space required for criticism, political expression, journalism, satire and legitimate public debate.
“The goal is not to silence citizens, but to restore responsibility to our public conversation while preserving the freedoms on which our democracy stands,” he stated.
Shatta Wale subsequently expressed his willingness to participate in the proposed national dialogue as Ghana considers how to address harmful online conduct while maintaining the freedoms associated with democratic expression.
