Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari announced on Friday that the ban on Twitter would be lifted, but only if the social media giant met certain conditions.
The president disclosed this during his televised broadcast to Nigerians on the country’s 61st Independence Day anniversary.
He acknowledged the fact that Twitter is used to disseminate information. Still, he warned about bad actors who misuse the platform to “organise, coordinate, and execute criminal activities, propagate fake news, and promote ethnic and religious sentiments.”
Four months later, the country isn’t any closer to lifting the ban despite mounting pressure from the international community and several activists who have condemned the move, citing the government’s unnecessary attempt to stifle freedom of expression.
One way it claims to be doing so is by engaging with the Twitter team.
In August, for instance, the nation’s information minister Lai Mohammed said Nigeria was in talks with Twitter to reinstate the company’s operations in the country.
He said ten requests had been made but the government only reached an agreement with Twitter on seven — the other issues yet to be sorted out include Twitter setting up a local office, paying tax locally, and cooperating with the Nigerian government to regulate content and harmful tweets.
Also Read:-TikTok starts flirting with NFTs
While the Nigerian government has twice stated that it is working with Twitter to lift the ban, the social media platform has kept mum about said happenings.
It seems nothing has changed since then. The president expressed a similar stance today but in a more nuanced manner.
According to him, the committee he set up, alongside the nation’s technical team, have engaged Twitter to discuss five issues — national security and cohesion, registration, physical presence and representation, fair taxation, dispute resolution, and local content.
If Twitter agrees to meet these requirements posed by the government, the ban will be lifted. months later, the country isn’t any closer to lifting the ban despite mounting pressure from the international community and several activists who have condemned the move, citing the government’s unnecessary attempt to stifle freedom of expression.
0 Comments