President says Twitter ban in Nigeria will be lifted if the platform opens a local office and pays taxes
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari declared Friday that Twitter's ban would be lifted if certain conditions were met.
This was disclosed by the president during his televised broadcast to Nigerians commemorating the country's 61st Independence Day anniversary.
He admitted that Twitter is used for information dissemination. He warned of bad actors who use Twitter to organize, coordinate and execute criminal activities and propagate fake news.
His government therefore decided to stop operating social media platforms in the country from June 5, This has allowed his government to take measures to address these problems, he said.
Engaging with the Twitter team is one way it claims to be doing this.
Lai Mohammed, the nation's information minister, stated that Nigeria was in talks to reopen its operations in Nigeria in August.
He stated that ten requests were made, but the government had only reached agreement with Twitter on seven other issues. These include Twitter setting up a local branch, paying tax locally and working with the Nigerian government in order to regulate harmful tweets and content.
Since then, it seems that nothing has changed. Today, the president expressed a similar position but with more nuance.
He claims that the national security and cohesion committee he established, along with the technical team of the nation, engaged Twitter to discuss five topics: registration, physical presence, representation, fair taxation and dispute resolution. The ban on Twitter will be lifted if it meets the requirements of the government.
After extensive engagements, I have addressed the issues and directed that the suspension of use be lifted, but only if conditions are met that allow citizens to continue to use the platform for business and positive interactions, he stated.
After a controversial tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari, which threatened to punish regional secessionists, the Nigerian government suspended Twitter in June.
Despite mounting pressure from the international community, and many activists condemning the move, the country has not been able to lift the ban for four months.
Although the Nigerian government stated twice that it was working with Twitter to lift its ban, the social media platform kept quiet about the developments.
