Twitter Ban: Nigeria okays 7 of 10 requests made to tech giant ─Minister

*Minister for Information and Culture Lai Mohammed assures stakeholders that the Nigerian Government certainly wants to resolve the showdown with the global tech giant before the end of 2021

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

As the Federal Government awaits a response on the three final requests made of the global technology giant and social media platform, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Honourable Minister for Information and Culture, has disclosed that the country expects to lift the current ban on Twitter operations before the end of the year.

The Minister stated the Nigerian Government had reached agreements on seven of 10 requests made to Twitter, reports Reuters.

Alhaji Mohammed, however, noted that the government is yet waiting for the tech company’s response on final issues.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Honourable Minister for Information and Culture

According to him, such outstanding issues include setting up a local office in Nigeria, paying tax locally, and cooperating with the government to regulate content and harmful tweets.

“We certainly want to put this behind us before the end of the year,” Mohammed said.

But Twitter has declined to comment on the Minister’s update on the agreements reached with the government thus far, report stated.

It is recalled the Federal Government suspended Twitter June 4 after the microblogging site removed President Muhammadu Buhari’s post that allegedly threatened to punish regional secessionists in the country.

Report indicates that the development was a culmination of months of tension.

Posts of Jack Dorsey, Twitter Chief Executive, were reportedly encouraging donations to the anti-police brutality protests October 2020, and Twitter posts from Nnamdi Kanu, a Biafran separatist leader currently on trial in Abuja, FCT, have infuriated the Nigerian authorities.

Mohammed said Twitter “made their platform the platform of choice for separatists”, and was suspended because it threatened national unity.

Likewise, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the country’s broadcasting regulator, had ordered TV stations to curb their reporting of security issues in the country by withholding details of incidents and victims.