How Nigeria succeeded in clipping Twitter's wings

By Nduka Orjinmo
The news is from Nigeria.

The image is from the same source.

The seven-month ban on the social media site in Nigeria was agreed to by the company in exchange for a number of conditions.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, joins the likes of India, Indonesia and Turkey in tightly regulating social media companies. Other African governments are likely to take note of this, as they try to prevent the use of social media for mobilising opposition groups.

Concerns have been raised about the future of its operations in Nigeria.

The director of the US-based Electronic Frontier Foundation told the BBC that it was concerning that the social networking site may have capitulated to an arrangement that would allow Nigeria to pressure it into making decisions.

He said that if they upheld human rights, they should obey local laws. The agreement gave the government the ability to enforce take-down orders against the company.

The rule of law and freedom of speech have been abused by the President's administration, according to human rights groups.

There are concerns that there will be more curbs on social media users and that more will be flagged and pulled down by the social media platform.

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There has been a campaign against curbs on free speech.

Many are frustrated because of the lack of comment on the agreement it made with Nigeria.

The company only said it was "pleased" to be restored and committed to Nigeria.

The company agreed to the government's conditions before it was restored.

It feels like a huge change for a company that just a year ago said it was opening its Africa headquarters in Ghana as a champion for democracy, supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet.

The decision to snub Nigeria was considered a snub.

The new digital tax law passed in 2020 has brought about the downfall of one of the first digital companies to be brought to heel.

It's not clear if it will open an office or just register an agent in Nigeria, as it has agreed to pay tax and establish a legal entity there.

"The difference between how much pressure Nigeria will be able to exert against Twitter going forward and how much of a fight they will have against future disproportionate or arbitrary demands from Nigeria is significant," said Mr.

Young Nigerian people love to use the social networking site, Twitter. It's more than a platform, it's a one-stop shop for everything, from job openings to a missing persons portal, and a civic space to hold public officials to account.

The image is from the same source.

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Young people are using social media to organize protests against police brutality.

During the #EndSars demonstrations in 2020, the platform of choice for young demonstrators was social media, and that's when it made its biggest political impact.

The #EndSars protests became calls for an end to bad governance in Nigeria, and the president said that the protesters wanted to remove him from office.

The government blames Jack Dorsey, the former boss of the social networking site, for fanning the protests and causing the destruction that followed.

The battle between Mr Dorsey and the president of Nigeria was a personal one, and culminated in the president's deleted message.

The 1967-1970 civil war is referenced in the message and those who are misbehaved today will be dealt with in the language they understand.

It is hard to see how protests such as the #EndSars demonstrations can be organised on the platform without being accused of violating local laws.

The image is from the same source.

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Nigeria's government says social media is used to cause unrest.

The Nigerian digital rights group believes that the government lost out during the seven-month ban because it couldn't get its message out.

The Nigerian people and the government are the real winners, he said.

Mr Sesan believes that the government rushed to announce the lifting of the ban to save face as a ruling is expected this week by the court of the regional body Ecowas.

He said that he was ashamed of the President because he said that it was a legacy thing.

The supporters of the government are celebrating their victory and say that the authorities forced them to bend over.

The ban was supported by many of them because they felt that the deletion of the president's message was political interference by a private firm.

The company is being mocked for returning in time for the general elections despite accepting the government's conditions.

Nigeria's election campaigns are among the most expensive in the world. Presidential candidates can spend up to 15 billion Nigerian dollars on campaigns and social media adverts.

It is the sort of windfall that a company like Twitter would not want to miss out on.

Nigerian politicians from all parties like the return of the social networking site in time for the polls.