Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation, Sam Nartey George, has disclosed that he came close to ordering a total internet shutdown in Ghana to stop the spread of disturbing footage from the August 6 helicopter crash.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Mr George described the period as a “mixed experience,” and commended the rapid collaboration from telecommunications companies in handling the situation.
“When it comes to the coverage of the tragedy, I’d say that it’s been a mixed part for me, and let me say a very big thank you to the telecom companies – MTN, Telecel, and AirtelTigo, Ghana,” he said.
According to him, the circulation of graphic content on social media, particularly on WhatsApp, triggered deep concern, especially since the platform operates beyond government control.
“When the incident happened, I was distraught, but we still had a responsibility to the state. I got a call with the videos that started circulating. The unfortunate situation is most of them were circulating on WhatsApp, and WhatsApp is a platform that is not controlled by any country. It’s a private business,” he explained.
Mr George revealed that the situation presented him with two difficult choices.
“One was to shut down the internet in the country to prevent further spread of the videos, because government had not officially completed communication to the families. Government had not made a formal communication. You had some of the kids who are old enough being online. I was worried about the mental health of those kids and their spouses, and such tragedy needs to be broken in a certain way,” he said.
However, he noted that cutting off the internet would have had significant negative repercussions.
“That was one option, to shut down, make a public announcement and say we’re turning off the internet for a period to allow for calm to prevail and have a grip of everything before we allow. But then that also came with its own consequences. Many of you stream the news, how people get the news via stream and all of that. You could have a ripple effect that would actually be worse than what you were trying to fix. And so, we had to leave that intact.”
Instead, the Minister said he pursued a more discreet approach, engaging both local and international partners.
“I immediately reached out to Meta and activated a POC that we had there to see what Meta could do, because Meta controls the WhatsApp platform. Then I started making personal calls to senior vice presidents that I knew at Meta to see what could be done. They assured me they were going to look into the matter.”
He added that he also contacted the National Communications Authority (NCA) and telecom operators, who quickly came on board.
“Then I reached out to the NCA and asked them to get in touch with all the CEOs. I personally placed calls to the three CEOs and said they should work with the NCA. We sent out about 30 million text messages within the space of two hours, and the telecom companies bore the cost for this,” he said.
Mr George stressed that all public messages from the Ministry urging restraint were fully funded by the telecom firms.
“All those messages that went out from the MOCDTI asking people to please exercise restraint, the cost was borne by the telecom companies themselves as part of working with us. The NCA coordinated the blast of the messages across the country,” he concluded.
