For the time being, the Nigerian government is sticking to its blockade of the short message service Twitter. The National Broadcasting Commission called on Monday, according to consistent reports from all radio and TV stations, the citizens of the country not to use Twitter for information purposes, it was “unpatriotic”.
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The justice minister had already announced at the weekend that anyone trying to bypass the Twitter block faces immediate prosecution. In the meantime, the country’s government says it is also holding talks with the US company. “Talks are ongoing with Twitter. We’ll see what happens next, “said Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama, according to the AFP news agency.
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Twitter described the move by the Nigerian government over the weekend as “deeply worrying”. The US company did not initially confirm that there were talks with the government in Abuja.
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The government of the state with more than 200 million inhabitants surprisingly announced the Twitter lock on Friday evening without giving a specific reason. Two days earlier, Twitter had deleted a controversial tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari about the Nigerian civil war and suspended the account of the head of state for twelve hours.
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Presidential spokesman remains vague in justification
The decision to delete the tweet was “disappointing,” but not the only reason for the nationwide ban, the president of Africa’s largest democracy said on Facebook on Saturday evening. Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu referred on Saturday to alleged problems of Twitter with “disinformation and› fake news ‹”.
Buhari signaled a temporary ban, but did not give a date for a possible end. In the past year, young Nigerians had repeatedly used Twitter to organize protests against police violence. According to “Al Jazeera“More than 39 million people in the country use the online service.
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Clear criticism from the EU and the USA
The EU, the US and others had sharply criticized the Abuja government over the weekend for their actions. After Monday’s ambassadorial meeting, US Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard said her country supported this position. “We recognize that there are problems with using social media responsibly,” she told reporters. But free access to information and the right to freedom of expression are “very important”.
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