President's post is deleted, Nigeria announces indefinite suspension of Twitter
[Global Times reporter Liu Yang] The social media platform Twitter was recently suspended indefinitely by the Nigerian government for "destroying the survival of Nigerian businesses."
CNN reported on the 5th that Nigerian President Mohamedu Buhari was deleted from Twitter just a short time ago for publishing a tweet threatening to "punish regional separatists who attacked government buildings."
On the evening of the 6th, Buhari wrote in his Facebook account that the suspension of Twitter is a reciprocal measure taken against the platform for "spreading misinformation and fake news."
According to the ABC, Nigeria has about 40 million Twitter users.
It is reported that the country’s confrontation with Twitter began last Tuesday (1st), when President Buhari tweeted that the recent violence in the southeast was “improper behavior” and accused local separatists of responding to regional public Responsible for repeated attacks on infrastructure.
"Many of them are too young to realize the destruction and loss of life caused by the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us who have been on the battlefield for 30 months and experienced that cruel war will use what they understand. "Language" treats them." However, the tweet was deleted by Twitter on the 2nd because it was reported as "inciting violence" by netizens.
The BBC stated that a Twitter spokesperson stated that Buhari’s account was banned for 12 hours and set to read-only mode for violating platform regulations, and other users could not comment and repost the content.
The Twitter behavior caused serious dissatisfaction in Nigeria. Nigeria's Federal Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohamad subsequently criticized Twitter for "double standards"-ignoring the violent messages of the leaders of the separation organization, but selectively deleting President Buhari's tweets.
In addition, he also mentioned that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey supported Nigeria's violent anti-police demonstrations last year.
At a press conference held on the 2nd, Lay questioned what rules Twitter President Buhari had violated and said, “Twitter’s mission in Nigeria is very suspicious...”
In response, the Nigerian government issued a statement on the evening of the 4th announcing that it would suspend Twitter operations in Nigeria indefinitely, citing the continued use of the platform for activities that may undermine the survival of Nigerian businesses.
The Ministry of Justice also said it would prosecute offenders.
Agence France-Presse said on the 6th that the diplomatic missions of the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Ireland all expressed regret for the Nigerian government's decision. They believe that this measure of the Nigerian government limits its domestic access to information, which is particularly important during the epidemic, because the country needs "inclusive dialogue." Twitter issued a statement saying: “The Nigerian government’s announcement of the suspension of Twitter operations in its country is deeply worrying. We are investigating this matter.”