Presidency explains Twitter ban not about Buhari’s deleted tweet

Presidency explains Twitter ban not about Buhari’s deleted tweet

There is an update about the ban on microblogging site Twitter by the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed on Friday, June 4th issued a statement that Twitter was banned in Nigeria.

A lot of Nigerians assumed that was because Twitter deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari.

However Garba Shehu the Presidential aide of Media has revealed the reasons for the ban on Twitter.

He said: ”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. Nevertheless, the removal of President Buhari’s tweet was disappointing.

”The censoring seemed based on a misunderstanding of the challenges Nigeria faces today.

”The President in his address at the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA in 2019 said “the world was shocked and startled by the massacre in New Zealand by a lone gunman taking the lives of 50 worshippers.”

”This and similar crimes which have been fueled by social media networks risk seeping into the fabric of an emerging digital culture.”

”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.

”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.

”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,” he added.