- After a tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari’s account was deleted by Twitter for violating its rules, Nigeria’s government has suspended Twitter’s operations indefinitely.
- Twitter deleted a remark on Buhari’s account after he referred to the country’s civil war in a warning to those “misbehaving” in recent violence in the southeast.
After a tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari’s account was deleted by Twitter for violating its rules, Nigeria’s government has suspended Twitter’s operations indefinitely. Twitter deleted a remark on Buhari’s account after he referred to the country’s civil war in a warning to those “misbehaving” in recent violence in the southeast. Officials had blamed separatists for attacks on police and election offices.
Minister of Information Lai Mohammed pointed out that Twitter ignored violent messages from a separatist leader. He also referred to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s support for the #EndSARS protests last year in Nigeria against police brutality.
In a statement, the information ministry of Nigeria said Twitter was “suspended, indefinitely,” for”persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”. There is still no clarity on when the decision would take effect or what form the suspension would take. The move was denounced by rights groups and analysts as muzzling the freedom of expression and as an attempt to censor dissent & stifle the civic space’. Amnesty International urged Nigeria to immediately reverse the “unlawful suspension”.
