Dancehall artiste Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jr, popularly known as Shatta Wale, has submitted seven proposals to President John Dramani Mahama on how Ghana can tackle defamation, harassment and abuse on social media while protecting freedom of expression.
In an open letter dated Monday, September 28, 2026, the musician said the ongoing debate over regulation of TikTok and other digital platforms presents an opportunity to establish clear rules governing harmful online conduct.
His intervention follows President Mahama’s call for a national stakeholder discussion on the regulation of TikTok and other new media platforms.
Speaking at a town hall meeting with Ghanaians in New York on September 25, the President asked the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) to convene stakeholders to deliberate on misinformation, online insults and the appropriate role of the police in dealing with such matters.
Shatta Wale said any regulatory framework should strike a balance between protecting individuals from abuse and preserving constitutional freedoms.
“Freedom of speech and of the media, guaranteed under the 1992 Constitution, must remain protected,” he said.
He added that such freedoms, however, should not be interpreted as permission to threaten, harass people or deliberately circulate harmful falsehoods.
Shatta Wale’s seven proposals
The musician called for Parliament, the Judiciary, security agencies, media organisations and civil society groups to work together on a clearly defined legal framework covering serious and proven online misconduct.
He said such a framework should incorporate due process and independent judicial oversight while clearly protecting legitimate criticism, journalism, satire and political expression.
“No citizen should be punished for criticising a President, public official or public figure,” he stated.
On anonymity, Shatta Wale proposed stronger account verification for platforms operating in Ghana, drawing on the country’s existing Ghana Card-SIM registration system.
However, he said anonymity should not automatically be abolished. Instead, platforms should be required to respond to lawful, court-approved requests to identify accounts connected to proven cases of harassment or defamation.
He also proposed proportionate sanctions for online conduct that Parliament may eventually classify as criminal, including consideration of short custodial sentences of not more than one month, alongside corrective and deterrent measures.
Another proposal was for any new legislation to avoid recreating criminal libel through another legal mechanism.
Ghana abolished criminal libel provisions in 2001, making the issue an important part of the country’s continuing debate over media freedom and regulation.
Shatta Wale further called for public education on responsible use of social media to accompany any legal reforms.
He also urged the government to involve representatives of the creative industry at an early stage, arguing that artists and other content creators have a direct interest in how digital platforms are regulated.
Protecting expression while addressing abuse
Shatta Wale said his proposals were intended to contribute to, rather than close down, the national conversation on social media regulation.
“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 said.
President Mahama has also indicated that decisions on the regulation of digital platforms should emerge from consultations rather than unilateral government action.
The President has raised questions about the extent to which the police should intervene in online-content disputes and said recommendations from the proposed stakeholder engagement would inform government’s approach.
Shatta Wale addressed his letter to President Mahama and copied the Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice, the Minister for the Interior, the Inspector-General of Police and the National Media Commission.
