The Nigerian government announced in a statement on Friday, June 4, that it had suspended Twitter activities in Africa’s most populous country, two days after the social network deleted a tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The Federal Government has indefinitely suspended the activities of the microblogging service and the social network Twitter in Nigeria,” the Nigerian Ministry of Information and Culture said in a statement.
Twitter deleted a message from President Buhari on Wednesday, June 2, threatening those responsible for the current violence in southeastern Nigeria.
Information Minister Lai Mohammed responded in a statement to the press that if Twitter had its own rules, the president had the right to comment on the situation in Nigeria. In particular, he accused the social network of tolerating the messages of the leader of a separatist group active in southeastern Nigeria, which he said encouraged violence.
The minister also referred to last year’s call by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to donate bitcoins to support protests against police violence that shook the country. “Twitter’s mission to Nigeria following these two examples is highly suspect. What are his intentions? “He had launched for the journalists.
By November 2019, the government had introduced stricter measures to regulate the media and combat misinformation on social networks, which was perceived by civil society as a restriction on freedom of expression.
Nigeria is the largest democracy in Africa, but the government is regularly appointed by human rights organizations.
(With AFP)
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