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DAKAR, Senegal – The Nigerian government restored access to Twitter in the country on Thursday. seven-month suspension This was imposed after the social media site deleted a post by the Nigerian president threatening to put violent crackdown on separatist groups.
The government blocked access to the site in June, but reversed course on Wednesday after Twitter agreed to several requests. A government official said Twitter will set up an office in the country, pay taxes there, appoint a representative and “will act by respectfully accepting Nigerian laws, national culture and history.”
Since the ban came into effect, Nigerians have only been able to access the service using a virtual private network. Twitter’s removal of a post by President Muhammadu Buhari was seen as spurring the government to block the site, but government official Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi said Wednesday it was “due to its use for subversive purposes and criminal activities.” ”
In this tweet, now deleted and aimed at “those who behave badly”, Mr Buhari said the government will “treat them in a language they understand”. . Some interpreted this as a threat of genocide.
In recent years, Nigerian lawmakers have introduced several bills that, if passed, would regulate social media, arguing on the basis of security or national unity. Rights groups believe that these measures, none of which have been approved, violate international laws protecting freedom of expression.
Amnesty International human rights group said Wednesday night He said the Twitter ban was “illegal” and described it as an attack on Nigerians’ basic freedoms, including freedom of expression.
Many organizations have sued the government and the telecommunications companies that enforced it because of the ban.
In chirpTwitter said it’s “delighted” that its service has been restored.
“Our mission in Nigeria and around the world is to serve the public conversation,” the post said. “We are deeply committed to Nigeria, where Twitter is used by people for commerce, cultural engagement and civic engagement.”
Twitter is far from the most popular social media platform in Nigeria – It is thought to have around three million users It’s out there and behind WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.
However, it has significant influence in the country where it is often used by the elite and has been used to organize parties in 2020. largest anti-government uprising in a generationwas staged by young people against police violence.
The ban may have cost the Nigerian economy more than $1.4 billion. a vehicle It was developed by monitoring organization NetBlocks to calculate the economic impact of internet outages, mobile data outages or app restrictions. Many Nigerians who use Twitter to promote their businesses have lost income.
Yemi Adamolekun, managing director of Yeter Yeter Nigeria, an organization that works for good governance and public accountability, said that beyond the economic consequences, there are also profound social consequences.
The Nigeria Center for Disease Control said it is using Twitter to spread information about the spread of the coronavirus. It was a go-to resource for Nigerians looking for information on reported cases, deaths and testing. During the ban, the organization Twitter account was not active. His last tweet was a breakdown of cases by state as of June 4.
The organization spread the information via Facebook, but many Nigerians did not know about it even as the Delta variant spread.
“Many people didn’t get the full effect of the Delta variant because they weren’t getting the updates,” Ms Adamolekun said.
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