The Nigerian government has failed to lift the ban on Twitter, one month after it ordered the suspension of the microblogging platform operations in the country.
Despite criticism by local and international communities, The Muhammadu Buhari led government is yet to give access to Nigerians to operate the platform freely.
POLITICS NIGERIA reported that the federal government on June 4, suspended Twitter operations indefinitely after it alleged that the micro-blogging site was being used to undermine “Nigeria’s corporate existence” through the spreading of fake news that have “violent consequences”.
The ban came two days after Twitter took down a controversial tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari which was seen by many as threatening violence against Igbo people.
Many Nigerians ignored the ban and bypassed it by using Virtual Private Network (VPN) applications to remain active on the microblogging site. Shortly after, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami issued a statement threatening to jail those caught using VPN applications.
The ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja in a landmark ruling on June 22 “restrained the government from unlawfully imposing sanctions or doing anything whatsoever to harass, intimidate, arrest or prosecute Twitter and/or any other social media service provider(s), media houses, radio and television broadcast stations, and other Nigerians who are Twitter users.”
Many Nigerians earlier expressed optimism that the government will lift the ban since the president had said it was a temporary one and the organisation, accused of bias, is ready for talks.
But one month later, the platform’s operation remains suspended in Nigeria as citizens continue to accuse the government of being dictatorial.
