Twitter ban: "The president wanted to deal with Twitter and Facebook"

Nigeria’s Presidency, including top government aides, has harshly criticized Twitter for deleting a post made by President Muhammadu Buhari where he threatened to treat the people in the southeast “in the language they understand.”

Twitter deleted the tweet for violating its policy on abusive behavior after many Nigerians had flagged it. The President’s account was also suspended and left in a “read-only mode” for 12 hours.

On June 4, 2021, in its response, an infuriated Nigerian Government had slapped an indefinite ban on the operations of Twitter in the country.

Citing the “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence,” Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had announced the suspension of the microblogging platform. However, many Nigerians have continued to wonder about the Government’s ‘real’ reason for banning the social media platform.

According to an exclusive story published by The Daily Beast, the President was allegedly furious and wanted to deal with both Twitter and Facebook because the action [the social media companies took] was embarrassing to the president.

The Daily Beast had also learned that without consulting too many people and overlooking his own vice president, Buhari ordered the Ministry of Information and Culture to suspend Twitter’s operations in the country.

The President is said to have also succumbed to pressure not to immediately target Facebook offenders so that it isn’t obvious that he was acting in response to the deleted post.

Before the ban, Information Minister Lai Mohammed had accused Twitter of “double standards,” stating that “the mission of Twitter in Nigeria is very very suspect.” Mohammed insisted that the company’s decision was biased and said the president had a right to express his thoughts on events affecting the country.

In his words: “Twitter may have its own rules; it’s not the universal rule. If Mr. President anywhere in the world feels very bad and concerned about a situation, he is free to express such views.”

While reacting to the position of the Nigerian Government on its public policy account, Twitter tweeted:

We are deeply concerned by the blocking of Twitter in Nigeria. Access to the free and #OpenInternet is an essential human right in modern society.
We will work to restore access for all those in Nigeria who rely on Twitter to communicate and connect with the world. #KeepitOn
— Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) June 5, 2021

Interestingly, the Twitter ban in Nigeria has somewhat failed as citizens still visit the popular social media service through encrypted connections and virtual private network software to express their thoughts.

Nigeria joins countries like China, North Korea, Egypt, Iran, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Pakistan, and Uganda where Twitter usage has either been suspended or banned.