Not everyone understands that one of the most difficult jobs in the world is criticism, comedy and content creation. The romance of free speech has entered so many heads that people believe they can talk anyhow on Facebook, act comedy to caricature or ridicule another, compose a song to bully, or pass wild allegations in the name of criticism and opinion, and then walk away without consequences.
Yes, criticism and comedy are among the most difficult tasks because words are cheap and can easily escape, become loose in the heat of emotion and provocation, and become vulnerable. This danger has multiplied with social media where there is no gatekeeper, no censor, no editor to help moderate what goes out.
If you send an article to a newspaper, the editor will read it and reject it when it contains offensive, outrageous or controversial claims. The editor is not only protecting the newspaper from reputational ruin but also protecting the writer himself. Where the piece is not entirely provocative, the editor alters sentences, tones them down, edits for public interest and national security.
The classic gatekeeping theory of Kurt Lewin and David Manning White explains this filter, the invisible editorial sieve that separates publishable opinion from actionable libel.
A friend once complained to me that he had been sending articles for months to a mainstream newspaper without publication. Before I could respond he added that it could be because of his language or tone. I smiled. He had diagnosed himself.
Social media has made it possible to share anything as opinion, as catching cruise, as criticism, as video, directly without any middle check. We now have an increasing army of comedians and content creators who, under pressure to make people laugh and harvest applause, may be crossing the red line without even knowing it.
There is a thin line between opinion and allegation, between insult and critique, between inflaming and informing, between incitement and mockery. The philosopher J.L. Austin would call this the performative power of speech, words do not just describe reality, they do things to people.
For instance, my attention was drawn to a media report by Eagle Times News with the caption, After one month in prison: Court grants bail to Facebook poster in Taraba, posted on October 23, 2026. The story reads thus: The Federal High Court sitting in Jalingo on Thursday granted bail to a Facebook poster, Fonya Sule, after one month in the Jalingo correctional centre.”
The detail is that Taraba State Government, through the Office of the Attorney-General, had on 30th September 2026 filed a criminal complaint against Sule before the Upper Area Court Jalingo over a Facebook post credited to him against Governor Agbu Kefas and his 2027 governorship running mate, Hajiya Zainab Ibrahim, Aunty Zee. According to the report, on August 12, 2026, Sule posted on his Facebook wall calling on the APC deputy governorship candidate to be careful with Governor Kefas before he may impregnate her.
The post read, Aunty Zee be Very careful ooh, if not u will soon carry belle, that your boss na one time BuGu. He was arrested the following week and remanded at the Jalingo correctional centre for criminal defamation of Governor Kefas and his running mate.
The merit of comedy or joke should not only be that it entertains but that it is beneficial. Opinion is not the same as passing allegations, peddling accusations, or writing messages that embarrass, dehumanize and strip people of dignity. Comedians, artists, musicians and critics are respected for their ability to make people laugh, deliver an entertaining song along with a meaningful message that heals, builds, corrects, respects, and challenges with moderation, sensitivity and responsibility, not for the growing trend of fancying strong words, daring comments, fearless charges and mockery as a badge of courage or sacrifice.
Mikhail Bakhtin argued that the carnivalesque can be liberating, but even carnival has rules, otherwise laughter becomes cruelty.
It reminds me of a video I stumbled on on Facebook created by a woman in Kano during the hype of a top celebrity who was under public scrutiny for divorcing a dozen women. Without masking words, the lady said she had taken time to observe the man and noticed he has a very small manhood, and concluded that the divorce spree was as a result of his inability to perform in the other room, which explains why the wives leave quietly without a scene or public drama, because it is a fate one cannot fight, and that is why they never disclose the genuine reason for the marriage breakdown.
I was restless watching it, but she was confident. I worried she was crossing the line. Making videos and passing allegations from a distance with the absolute certainty of a physician or close kin? Research on defamation by media law scholars like Simon Stokes shows that false statements about sexual conduct are among the most actionable because they strike at the core of reputation.
Not long ago a woman got herself into trouble by alleging that Opay would cease to function at a certain time. Before anyone knew it there was national panic and tension. She was shocked that she could be traced to Zaria and nailed, and ended up regretting and apologizing. That is the contagion theory of rumour that Gordon Allport and Leo Postman described, a rumour spreads fastest when it is anxiety-laden and ambiguous, and social media is its superhighway.
The 2023 study by the Centre for Information Technology and Development on financial misinformation in Nigeria found that a single unverified voice note can trigger mass withdrawals within hours.
Yet the same criticism or insult directed at Governor Kefas and Aunty Zee could have been said differently without becoming legally vulnerable. What if he had written, Aunty Zee is a gorgeous woman pairing up with a randy suspect who is believed to catch fire easily, we really hope it does not provoke workplace romance or affair, assuming the concern was genuine, though highly unnecessary if the criticism was unprovoked?
The communication theorist Robert Entman calls this framing, the same concern packaged differently changes from defamation to permissible satire. The law, as Justice Holmes reminds us in his theory of the marketplace of ideas, does not punish an opinion, it punishes a false statement of fact presented as truth.
We must therefore be careful not to cross the line during sarcasm, criticism or singing. Yes, song. Because political singer Dauda Kahutu Rarara recently experienced a low moment that I doubt he has fully recovered from when his lyrics crossed from praise into personal attack.
While content has become the new currency or goldmine, and political thuggery has become the face of loyalty or stiff resistance that pays, we must not stop saying that we should not cross the line of free expression because our right to expression stops where the right of others to protect their dignity, humanity and public image begins.
That is why he who alleges must prove, and why there should be consequences for talking anyhow, because talking is easy and cheap but taking responsibility restores sanity.
bagudumohammed15197@gmail.com07034943575
Bagudu Mohammed is the founder of Alternative Perspectives, a widely read commentary platform on social media. It offers evidence-based analysis and real-life insights as a credible alternative to groupthink, convenient narratives, and echo chambers. The platform explores a wide range of issues, including politics, society, relationships, governance, and contemporary trends.
Web: https://alternativeperspective.onrender.com
