We’ll Subject Facebook, Others To Conditions Imposed On Twitter – Lai Mohammed

The Nigerian Government said it will amend all necessary statutes and impose on all social media platforms the operational conditions it recently agreed with Twitter.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, during a meeting with the Egyptian Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Amir Talaat, in Cairo, Egypt.

“Whatever applies to Twitter will apply to all other social media platforms, be it WhatsApp, Facebook, or any other,” Mohammed said.

THE WHISTLER reported that the government had lifted its 7-month ban on Twitter after the company met a number of conditions given by the government including agreeing to “enroll Nigeria in its Partner Support and Law Enforcement Portals. The Partner Support Portal provides a direct channel for government officials and Twitter staff to manage prohibited content that violates Twitter community rules.”

Twitter had also reportedly agreed to open “a channel for the law enforcement agencies to submit a report with a legal justification where it suspects that content violates Nigerian Laws.”

While speaking with Talaat, the minister revealed that Nigeria was amending its National Broadcasting Act and Code to make sure all social media platforms operating in the country comply with the stipulated conditions.

Twitter was banned in Nigeria in June 2021 after a tweet made by President Buhari was removed from the platform for violating its rules.

The government however maintained that the ban was not because the president’s tweet was deleted, insisting that the suspension was implemented because Twitter had become a medium of choice for those who wanted to destabilise Nigeria, create disunity and heat up the polity.