Twitter Reacts To FG’s Suspension of its Operations in Nigeria

In reaction to the Federal Government’s suspension of the operations of Twitter in Nigeria, the micro-blogging site has said the decision is “deeply concerning”.

Twitter’s Senior Policy Communications Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Sarah Hart, stated this in an email response sent to The Cable. The mail reads

“The announcement made by the Nigerian Government that they have suspended Twitter’s operations in Nigeria is deeply concerning.

“We’re investigating and will provide updates when we know more,”

Earlier, in a statement on the 4th of June 2021 by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed via his spokesman Segun Adeyemi, the indefinite suspension of the operations of Twitter in Nigeria was announced.

According to the statement, the minister cited “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 Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria,” Adeyemi added.

Recall that in a series of posts on Twitter on Tuesday, the president had condemned the attacks on government facilities in the country, citing a reference to the 1967 civil war experience, and threatened to treat those “bent on destroying” Nigeria “through insurrection” in “a language they understand”.

This caused the tech giant to delete the tweets as such words were against their policy.

Defending Buhari’s post, the information minister condemned the deletion of the president’s post and accused Twitter of “double standard”.

Mohammed had also added that the mission of the social networking service as it concerns Nigeria is “suspicious”.