The Nigerian Government has announced that it will start licensing Social Media platforms that operate in Nigeria.
POLITICS NIGERIA learned that the Federal Government has already directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all Social media operations in Nigeria.
In a statement sent to this newspaper on Friday evening, the country’s minister for information, Lai Mohammed disclosed that the move was necessary after Social Media giant, Twitter deleted a tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari’s handle.
The president had made a subtle threat of genocidal violence against the Igbo people over recent spates of insecurity in the region. Twitter deleted the tweet and also deleted a video of the president making those comments from his handle, stating that the message violated its terms and conditions.
Mohammed swiftly responded to the development accusing Twitter of ‘double standards’.
“The Federal Government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria.”.
“The minister has directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.”, the statement read.
