‘I have a crocodile skin, I don’t mind being insulted’ – Mahama on social media insults

President John Dramani Mahama has said he is unfazed by insults directed at him, but believes Ghana must have a broader national conversation on how to regulate social media platforms such as TikTok.

Speaking to members of the Ghanaian diaspora on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, President Mahama said his years in politics had made him resilient to personal attacks.

“As a leader, I don’t mind being insulted. I’ve been insulted, I was vilified, I was voted out of office. So me, this skin is a crocodile skin,” he said.

He said insults would not distract him from his work for Ghana and Africa.

“So if you insult me, I don’t mind. You insult me, I don’t mind and indeed I’m doing what I can for my country and my continent. I’m doing what I can for Ghana and Africa and I will do what is right,” he added.

However, President Mahama said the issue went beyond personal attacks and raised broader questions about how Ghana should manage content on new media platforms.

“Really, I don’t mind the insults but all of us have to decide what do we want to do with TikTok,” he said.

He proposed a stakeholder forum involving the media and other relevant institutions to determine how the country should approach the regulation of new media.

“And so I said what we should do is Ghana Journalists Association, you saw the letter from my executive secretary, Media Foundation for West Africa, bring all the stakeholders together and hold a workshop or a forum and let’s all collectively take a decision on what we want to do with the new media,” he stated.

The President also questioned the extent to which the police should be involved in dealing with social media content.

“Should the police get involved or they shouldn’t get involved? How do we regulate it? You come out and tell us because really for me sometimes I don’t, sometimes the police can go to the extreme and you never know,” he said.

He cautioned that without clear guidelines, arrests over online comments could become difficult to control.

“Once you start arresting, you don’t know where to stop,” he added.

President Mahama has tasked the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) with bringing stakeholders together for a national forum on new media and online content.

The proposed forum comes amid concerns over social media abuse, harmful content and arrests linked to online posts.

The President’s position is that Ghana needs a collective discussion to determine how to balance freedom of expression with responsible use and appropriate regulation of new media.