Federal Government of Nigeria has lifted the ban on Twitter.
Gatekeepers News reports that President Muhammadu Buhari has announced that the ban on Twitter activities in Nigeria has been lifted.
The President who made this announcement during his Independence day speech gave certain conditions that must be met before Twitter begins operations.
Buhari said, “We hope our present efforts to ensure all Nigerians use a National Identification Number as well as our planned roll-out of the fifth-generation (5G) network technology will ensure we stay in line with the global innovation curve as a Nation.
“As we embrace the digital economy in Nigeria, we are fully aware of the prospects and the perils.
“Our policies have been developed to enable Nigerians to take advantage of the prospects and avoid the perils of digital technologies.
“Social media is a very useful platform that has enabled millions of Nigerians to connect with loved ones, promote their businesses, socialise, and access news and other information.
“However, recent events have shown that the platform is not just an innocuous platform for information dissemination.
“Rather some users have misused the platform to organise, coordinate, and execute criminal activities, propagate fake news, and promote ethnic and religious sentiments.
“To address these negative trends, the Federal Government of Nigeria suspended the operations of Twitter in Nigeria on June 5, 2021, to allow the Government put measures in place to address these challenges.
“Following the suspension of Twitter operations, Twitter Inc. reached out to the Federal Government of Nigeria to resolve the impasse.
“Subsequently, I constituted a Presidential Committee to engage Twitter to explore the possibility of resolving the issue.
“The Committee, along with its Technical Team, has engaged with Twitter and have addressed a number of key issues. These are:
a. National Security and Cohesion;
b. Registration, Physical presence, and Representation;
c. Fair Taxation;
d. Dispute Resolution; and
e. Local Content.
“Following the extensive engagements, the issues are being addressed and I have directed that the suspension be lifted but only if the conditions are met to allow our citizens continue the use of the platform for business and positive engagements.
“As a country, we are committed to ensuring that digital companies use their platform to enhance the lives of our citizens, respect Nigeria’s sovereignty, cultural values and promote online safety.”
