Nigeria has banned Twitter from the country for interfering in the country’s politics. The Nigerian govt on Friday announced that it has indefinitely suspended Twitter’s activities. The move came two after Twitter had deleted a Tweet by president Muhammadu Buhari warning against secessionist movements.
The decision was announced by Information Minister Lai Mohammed on Friday. He said, “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”. He didn’t elaborate further on how the suspension will be executed. According to Reuters, the Twitter website and apps are still working in the country.
The move is seen as a response to Twitter deleting the president’s tweet, and suspending his account for 12 hours.
Yesterday, Lai Mohammed took had slammed Twitter for deleting the tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari who issued a warning to troublemakers in Nigeria. “We have a country to rule, and we will do so to the best of our ability. Twitter’s mission in Nigeria is very suspect, they have an agenda. The mission of Twitter in Nigeria is very suspicious,” he had said.
In the now-deleted tweet, Buhari had made a reference to the country’s 30-month civil war in 1967-1970, and had warned “those who wanted the government to fail” to desist from fomenting trouble.
“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigeria civil war. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand”, the tweet posted by the president on Tuesday night had said.
Twitter had deleted the president’s post on Wednesday, following criticisms from some social media users. Slamming the deletion, Lai Mohammed had said, “Twitter may have its own rules, it’s not the universal rule. If Mr. President, anywhere in the world feels very bad and concerned about a situation, he is free to express such views”.
He also said that Twitter allowing tweets by troublemakers and secessionists in Nigeria.
“When people were burning police stations and killing policemen in Nigeria during End SARS, a decentralised social movement, for Twitter, it was about the right to protest. But when a similar thing happened in the United States, it became insurrection,” Mohammed had said.
