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In Nigeria, social networks are at the heart of a struggle for influence more than two weeks after the brutal repression of the youth protest movement against police violence and for better governance in the country.
For two weeks, the Nigerian authorities have made several statements in favor of increased control over the internet in the country. A target set for several years by Nigerian officials.
A few hours after the security forces intervened in the Lekki charge on Tuesday, October 20, the Nigerian army began posting on Twitter screenshots of articles reporting on military intervention, all systematically excluded from the words “fake news” in red letters.
►Read also: After the drama in Lekki, Nigeria mobilizes against police violence
In the ensuing days, government announcements began to be massively disseminated on the social network, which until then had been monopolized by the activists of the movement. #EndSARS.
Security specialist Tanwa Ashiru explains that this is a recurring strategy of the Nigerian authorities, whose language is conveyed through a large number of fake accounts. Now the Nigerian government appears determined to restart its offensive against social networks.
“We must regulate social networks, which must not be passed on to false information and incitement to hatred,” the Minister of Information and Culture stated in particular.
The governors of the northern country have also officially declared such control measures. These threats are not new in Nigeria, where several bills have been tabled aimed at regulating the use of social networks since 2015.
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