President John Dramani Mahama has said he is sometimes unaware of certain arrests linked to social media posts before they happen, revealing that he often learns about them through media reports, just as the public does.

Speaking on the growing debate around regulating platforms like TikTok, Mahama said the scale of some arrests concerns him, particularly when he later reviews the reasons behind them.

"A lot of these arrests, I don't even know about them. I also hear them on the media. Somebody has been tracked and arrested and all that. And sometimes it's worrying for me because sometimes the reason for which the person has been arrested, really, I mean, they say, he's insulted me. And you look at the insult and - it does not worry me in the least - for the person to be arrested," he said.

The president said he personally does not mind being insulted online, citing his own political history, and how he has been toughened by it.

"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. So if you insult me, I don't mind, you insult me, I don't mind," he said.

He said despite the insults, he remains focused on his responsibilities.

"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. Really, I don't mind the insults," he added.

Mahama said the bigger question is not about his personal experience of insults, but how the country decides to handle regulation of new media platforms going forward.

"But all of us have to decide what do we want to do with TikTok? I can tell the IGP. We can go to cabinet and say lay off, let anybody insult anybody. Let's leave it a free for all, don't arrest anybody for anything. They say we can do that, but is that what we want?" he said.

He said he had directed the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) to convene stakeholders for a broader national conversation on the issue.

"And so I said what we should do is Ghana Journalist 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. Should the police get involved or they shouldn't get involved? How do we regulate it? You come out and tell us," he said.

He cautioned against police overreach in the absence of clear guidelines.

"Sometimes the police can go to the extreme, and you never know, once you start arresting, you don't know where to stop, you know. And so let's all decide what we want to do so that we either find a way of regulating it or we say we're a country of free expression so anybody can say whatever he wants," he said.