Nigerian Gov’t Suspends Twitter Operations After Company Deleted President’s Tweet
Days after American microblogging company, Twitter, deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet for violating one of its rules, the Nigerian Government has announced indefinite suspension of Twitter operations in the country.
The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension in a statement by his special assistant on media, Segun Adeyemi, on Friday.
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Mohammed hinged the government’s decision on “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”
Adeyemi said, “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.”
Meanwhile, THE WHISTLER reports that the government’s action against Twitter came amidst ongoing plans by some Nigerians to organize an “online protest” tagged “#June12Protest” against alleged bad governance under Buhari’s administration.
Convener of the #RevolutionNow Movement, Omoyele Sowore, had announced the planned protest on Friday.
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He had said, “We must bond together and fight this wicked man and his regime OFFLINE and ONLINE until we are liberated!” adding that, “So that no regime in our lives will ever again subject us to this unbelievable and unconscionable level of abuse and indignity!”
