Nigeria Bans Twitter After President’s Tweet Is Deleted

“When people were burning police stations and killing policemen in Nigeria during EndSARS, for Twitter it was about the right to protest,” he said. “But when a similar thing happened on the Capitol, it became insurrection.”

The reason for blocking Twitter, Mr. Mohammed said later, was “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”

In April, Twitter said that it was opening its first Africa office in Ghana, because the country was “a supporter of free speech, online freedom” and an open internet. Some analysts considered the move a snub for Nigeria, which is home to a thriving tech industry.

Shutdowns of the internet or social media are increasingly used by governments around the world, particularly in election periods. Countries that have censored Twitter include China and Iran.

Twitter worked on some cellphone carriers and not others on Saturday, according to tests conducted by Reuters in Lagos and Abuja.

Facebook and WhatsApp are the social networks used by most Nigerians, but the country’s intellectuals, activists and journalists tend to gravitate toward Twitter — and many were able to keep tweeting after the ban.

“Thank God for VPN” was trending on Twitter in Nigeria on Saturday, and many Nigerians took to the platform to comment that Africa’s biggest democracy was showing worrying signs of dictatorship in suppressing the right to free speech.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/05/world/africa/nigeria-twitter-president.html