As part of its new move to regulate social media, the Federal Government has said Twitter, Facebook and other social media giants doing business in Nigeria must register in the country before being allowed to operate unhindered.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, yesterday also disclosed that Twitter, which was last week suspended, has called for a ‘high-level’ discussion.
Mohammed made this known in Abuja while briefing journalists after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
Mohammed said he got the message yesterday morning and repeated government’s stance that Twitter was suspended because it provided an avenue for people threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria.
He claimed that the owner of Twitter helped to fund the recent #EndSARS protest and is also allowing the leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to use the platform to call for the killing of security operatives. He added that Twitter failed to take down Kanu’s tweets despite repeated requests to do so.
The minister said he has already directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in the country. The NBC as part of implementing the directive has also asked all broadcast stations to suspend usage of their Twitter accounts with immediate effect.
Mohammed listed conditions that must be met even if there is a discussion with Twitter, including that it must now be registered in Nigeria as a business concern. According to the government spokesman, freedom of speech has not been stifled by the suspension of Twitter as he maintained that Nigerians can still use other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
“We found out that Twitter is actually the platform of choice for a particular separatist leader who resides outside the country and issues directives to its members to attack symbols of government authority, such as the police, military, electoral commission offices, correctional centres, etc. And this is being done willfully and consistently without any consequences from Twitter.
“No country worth its name will tolerate that. And no company, no matter its self-importance will force any nation to accept this. It may interest you to know that most of the OTT and social media platforms operating in Nigeria do not have any office in Nigeria and do not pay taxes to Nigerian government for the billions they earn here. That is not the best practice globally, and that is why we are insisting that for you to operate in Nigeria you must first be a Nigerian company and be licenced by the broadcasting commission,” he said.