Last year the government of Nigeria announced that it would be suspending access to Twitter services, noting that persistent use of the social media platform where capable of, “undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”
The reason for the ban stemmed from Twitter deleting several tweets from President Muhammadu Buhari, who was seen to be inciting violence and violating the platform’s terms of service.
In retaliation, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) confirmed that Twitter would be suspended. Now, a little more than six months later, the suspension has been lifted, with Twitter deemed to have met the conditions required to continue to operate in the region.
Precisely what steps those are remains unclear, but this is not the first time that Twitter has had to bend to the will of a government unhappy with how the platform is used by its people, with India threatening similar restrictions last year too.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) directs me to inform the public that President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has approved the lifting of the suspension of Twitter operation in Nigeria effective from 12 am tonight, 13th January 2022,” a statement from the NITDA explains.
“The approval was given following a memo written to the President by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim. In the Memo, the minister updated and requested the President’s approval for the lifting based on the Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement’s recommendation,” it adds.
Along with the lifting of the suspension, the Nigerian government also confirmed that Twitter will be setting up a legal entity presence in the region too, in order to demonstrate its, “its long-term commitment to Nigeria.”
That appears to be the only silver lining in an otherwise tense six months between Twitter and Nigeria, with African offices for the tech firm only arriving last year in Ghana. The social media platform says it will also acknowledge Nigerian law, culture and history as well as adhere to tax implications within the country.
While there is indeed some good to have come out of the six-month suspension, it’s clear that Twitter will have to acquiesce in future should it be deemed to be in the wrong by the Nigerian government again.
[Image – Photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash]
[Source – TechCrunch]
