The United States Government has reacted to the ban on Twitter operations in Nigeria by the Nigerian Government describing the development as undermining Nigerians ability to exercise fundamental freedoms
In a statement issued on Saturday, the US mission in Nigeria said the Federal Government’s decision ‘sends poor message to its citizens,investors, and businesses”
” Banning social media and curbing every citizen’s ability to seek, receive, and impart information undermines fundamental freedoms
” As President Biden has stated,our need for individual expression,open public conversation, and accountability has never been greater.
” The path to a more secure Nigeria lies in more,not less communication, alongside concerted efforts toward unity,peace, and prosperity” it said.
The Federal Government on Friday, suspended, indefinitely, the operations of Twitter in Nigeria.
The Mimister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed in a statement issued in Abuja cited the platform’s continued use for activities that threaten the corporate existence of Nigeria.
The ban on Twitter operations comes after the microblogging website deleted a message by President Muhammadu Buhari it considered as genocide remarks.
Buhari’ s message was a condemnation of the wanton destruction of public infrastructures in the South East and a warning of a repeat of the 3 years civil war in the country which destroyed substantial number of people in that region
” Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the carnage and loss of life that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War.
” Those of us who spent 30 months in the fields and lived through the conflict will speak to them in their own language”
Meanwhile,a presidential statement has described Twitter’s suspension as temporary.
Spokesman to the President,Garba Shehu on Saturday evening said the temporary suspension of Twitter was borne out of collective issues ranging from the removal of the President’s tweet to problems associated with the social media which have had detrimental consequences.
” The temporary suspension of Twitter is not just a response to the removal of the President’s post.There has been a litany of problems with the social media platform in Nigeria, where misinformation and fake news spread through it have had real world violent consequences. All the while, the company has escaped accountability.
” Nevertheless, the removal of President Buhari’s tweet was disappointing. The censoring seemed based on a misunderstanding of the challenges Nigeria faces today.
” The President in his address at the United Nations General Assembly UNGA in 2019 said” the world was shocked and startled by the massacre in New Zealand by a lone gunman taking the lives of 50 worshippers
” This and similar crimes which have been fuelled by social media networks risk seeping into the fabric of an emerging digital culture.”
