BREAKING: Federal Government Suspends Twitter’s Operations in Nigeria
- The federal government says it is suspending the activities of Twitter in Nigeria indefinitely in a statement released
- The statement signed by the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, accused Twitter of bias
- Twitter recently took down a tweet and a video shared from the pages of President Muhammadu Buhari and the presidency
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FCT, Abuja - The federal government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria.
The minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, June 4.
The minister citied the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria's corporate existence.
Source: Twitter
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The terse statement read:
“The federal government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria.
“The minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, citing 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.”
Legit.ng had earlier reported that Alhaji Mohammed criticised Twitter for deleting a tweet by President Buhari.
The minister on Wednesday, June 2, accused the microblogging site of bias on issues concerning Nigeria’s domestic affairs, adding that Twitter’s role is suspicious and Nigeria would not be fooled.
Mohammed argued that the president has the right to express his idea on the current security challenges in the country.
He said Twitter is guilty of double standards, faulting the company for allegedly ignoring inciting tweets by secessionist groups against Nigeria.
Recall that a former presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adamu Garba, asked the Nigerian government to shut down the operations of Twitter in Nigeria.
Garba in a tweet on Thursday, June 3, said Twitter should be shut down for deleting President Muhammadu Buhari's tweet.
He argued that it was wrong for the social media company to remove Buhari's tweet which contained messages meant for Nigerian people.
Source: Legit.ng
