Nigeria and Twitter open talks over ban
The Nigerian government has launched talks with Twitter over the country’s “indefinite” ban on the social media giant, which has prompted legal challenges and international condemnation, writes David Thomas.
The reconciliation talks will be led by a team of President Muhammadu Buhari’s senior ministers, according to CNN, including minister of information and culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
Mohammed announced the suspension of the social media network in early June, citing a “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”. The decision came a day after Twitter removed a post by President Buhari threatening punishment for regional secessionists blamed for attacks on government buildings.
The government has since ordered mobile internet providers, including MTN and Airtel, to bar access to Twitter, and threatened users with prosecution.
Legal pressure on Nigeria
Since the decision, Nigeria has come under sustained international pressure to end the ban. In late June, a regional court restrained the government from prosecuting citizens or media outlets for using Twitter. The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States ordered the government and its agents “to refrain from imposing sanction on any media house or harassing, intimidating, arresting and prosecuting” Nigerians using the platform.
Such action would “amount to a violation of a fundamental human right” according to the ruling delivered by judge rapporteur Justice Keikura Bangura. The court refrained from ordering Nigeria to reverse the ban pending a conclusion of the suit.
The application to overturn the ban has been made by NGOs and journalists, including SERAP, which describes itself as a Nigerian nonprofit, nonpartisan legal and advocacy organisation.
“The ECOWAS court ruling today means that NO one would be sanctioned, harassed, intimidated, arrested or prosecuted for using Twitter in Nigeria. The ruling also means that tech companies must immediately restore people’s access to Twitter as a matter of human right,” SERAP wrote in a statement on Twitter.
The ban also prompted a joint statement by the diplomatic missions of major international partners including the US, UK and European Union.
“We strongly support the fundamental human right of free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria as around the world and these rights apply online as well as offline. Banning systems of expression is not the answer.”
The decision also irked the country’s network of tech entrepreneurs, many of whom blamed Nigeria’s heavy-handed tech regulation when Twitter announced that it had chosen Ghana to host its regional HQ in April.