Twitter Issues Powerful Message After Ban, Announces What It Will Do for Nigerians
- Twitter has spoken out against the indefinite suspension slammed on it by the Nigerian government on Friday
- On its public policy handle, the social media platform expressed deep concern over the ban, promising to do something about it
- The Twitter ban came two days after a tweet posted on the official handle of President Buhari was taken down
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Twitter, on Saturday, June 5, has promised to do all it can to ensure Nigerians have access to its platform once again.
Commenting on the development via its public policy handle, it said open internet is an essential human right in this day and age.
Source: Getty Images
The statement read:
“We are deeply concerned by the blocking of Twitter in Nigeria. Access to the free and #OpenInternet is an essential human right in modern society. We will work to restore access for all those in Nigeria who rely on Twitter to communicate and connect with the world."
Legit.ng had reported how the federal government on Friday, June 4 announced that it had suspended Twitter operations in Nigeria indefinitely.
The suspension came two days after a controversial post by President Muhammadu Buhari was deleted from Twitter. Buhari, in the deleted post, had warned of strong actions against secessionists.
After the post was deleted, the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, accused the bird app of bias on issues concerning Nigeria’s domestic affairs. It also accused the social media platform of “undermining Nigeria’s existence”.
This is 2021, Nigerians lament
Following the ban, Nigerians took to social media to express their frustrations, with many lambasting the government for making such a decision. Others used the opportunity to mock the authorities for using the platform to announce its decision.
@Biraphil commented:
"This is the same Twitter you all cried when they set up their headquarters in Ghana instead of Nigeria. The government would've locked their headquarters up for hate speech by now."
@Omojuwa also wrote:
"If Twitter weren’t certain about their choice of Ghana over Nigeria, the latest joke of a Twitter operational ban - see last tweet - is more than enough justification. This is 2021, but you could have sworn we were back in 1998."
What's the alternative?
Nigerians have been left with no other choice but to find alternatives following the ban and have started engaging the services of virtual private network providers.
While this may seem like the next best option, there are still a few risks associated with using VPNs that people should keep in mind.
However, authorities in the West African country have ordered the immediate prosecution of Nigerians accessing Twitter through a VPN.
Source: Legit.ng
