DSS Maintains Cyberstalking Charge Against Sowore, Removes X & Meta

The Department of State Services (DSS) has revised the criminal proceedings it initiated against Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, by removing social media firms X and Meta from the case while retaining the cyberstalking charge against him over an alleged false claim involving President Bola Tinubu. The adjustment was announced on Monday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, DSS’s lead counsel,informed Justice Mohammed Umar of the development when the matter came up for trial. He subsequently applied for the newly amended two-count charge to be read to Sowore, now standing as the only defendant. The original charge had listed Sowore alongside X Inc. (formerly Twitter) and Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook) as defendants. The amended charge, however, excludes the two technology companies, effectively narrowing the scope of the prosecution to Sowore. Read also: Cyberbullying: Sowore pleads not guilty as DSS files charges Sowore’s lawyer, Marshal Abubakar, raised no objection to the application, and the charge was read in court. Sowore entered a plea of not guilty to the allegations. Sowore, who contested the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections on the platform of the African Action Congress (AAC), is accused of cyberstalking President Tinubu through content allegedly posted on his X and Facebook accounts. The DSS had previously arraigned Sowore over statements he made on social media, which it claims were false and capable of triggering public unrest. With Monday’s amendment, the prosecution is now focused exclusively on Sowore’s alleged conduct, with the social media companies no longer part of the proceedings.