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The Nigerian Government bans Twitter

The announcement comes after Twitter removed the Nigerian President’s controversial tweet.

by ITP Live
The Nigerian Government bans Twitter

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The Nigerian government has announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter in the country. The ban is in response to Twitter’s decision to takedown a tweet from the Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari citing violations to their “abusive behavior policy.”

In the tweet, Buhari threatened to punish pro-Biafra protesters and drew a comparison to the Biafra war, a civil war that left more than a million people in Nigeria dead:

“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Biafra war. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”

The Federal Ministry of Information and Culture in Nigeria made the announcement on June 4 in a threaded tweet:

“The Federal Government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, citing the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence. The Minister said the Federal Government has also directed the National Broadcasting l Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.”

The Minister of Information Lai Mohammed justified the decision by calling out Twitter’s inaction in removing offensive tweets from a separatist leader and pointed out that Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey had supported the End SARS protests by motivating his followers to donate.

Twitter questioned the ban and called the access of social media networks as an “essential human right”:

Nigeria’s Twitter ban has caused massive outrage among the Nigerian community with many expressing concerns over the censorship of freedom of speech. Nigerians further used virtual private networks (VPNs) to access Twitter and question the government’s decision.

In response to this, Abubakar Malami, Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, stated that Nigerians can now be prosecuted for illegally accessing Twitter and called upon “speedy prosecution of offenders without any further delay:”
“Malami directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) at the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, to swing into action and commence in earnest the process of prosecution of violators of the Federal Government De-activation of operations of Twitter in Nigeria.”

Moreover, other regions including Canada, US, UK, Ireland and the EU released a joint statement to criticise the Twitter ban in Nigeria:

“We strongly support the fundamental human right of free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria as around the world and these rights apply online as well as offline.”