The Nigerian government may have backtracked on his earlier position on the banning of Twitter in the country.
A statement on Saturday from President Muhammadu Buhari through his media aide, Garba Shehu, disclosed that the ban is a temporary suspension.
This however contradicted the earlier statement issued on Friday by the government through its information minister, Lai Mohammed, who said the suspension was indefinite.
Buhari in the statement noted that the temporary suspension of Twitter is not just a response to the removal of his post, as reported in some quarters, but that Twitter has become a platform for the spread of fake news.
“There has been a litany of problems with the social media platform in Nigeria, where misinformation and fake news spread through it have had real world violent consequences. All the while, the company has escaped accountability.
“This and similar crimes which have been fueled by social media networks risk seeping into the fabric of an emerging digital culture.
“Major tech companies must be alive to their responsibilities. They cannot be allowed to continue to facilitate the spread of religious, racist, xenophobic and false messages capable of inciting whole communities against each other, leading to loss of many lives. This could tear some countries apart,” Buhari said.
The President reiterated that social media platforms must be not be used by separatists to propagate their agenda against the state, adding that the post he made about the civil war and treating separatists in the language they understand was the fact.
“The tweet was not a threat, but a statement of fact. A terrorist organisation (IPOB) poses a significant threat to the safety and security of Nigerian citizens.
“When the President said that they will be treated “in a language they understand,” he merely reiterated that their force shall be met with force. It is a basic principle of security services response world over.
“This is not promotion of hate, but a pledge to uphold citizens’ right to freedom from harm. The government cannot be expected to capitulate to terrorists.
“IPOB is proscribed under Nigerian law. Its members murder innocent Nigerians. They kill policemen and set government property on fire. Now, they have amassed a substantial stockpile of weapons and bombs across the country.
“Twitter does not seem to appreciate the national trauma of our country’s civil war. This government shall not allow a recurrence of that tragedy.”
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