Nigeria Government Bans Twitter
Nigeria's Government banned Twitter indefinitely after President Muhammadu Buhari's tweet got deleted for violating the TOS on violence.
At least 200 million people have lost access to Twitter is one of the biggest hits against freedom of speech in the country recently. Twitter removed the Nigerian president's tweet after posting an abusive civil war tweet, in response the government has decided to ‘indefinitely’ ban the social media platform.
Buhari tweeted: "Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. "Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they, understand," Buhari was referring to the brutal Nigeria-Biafra war, which killed an estimated 1 to 3 million people, mostly from the Igbo tribe, between 19 67 and 19 70.
The Nigerian government reacted poorly to Twitter's tweet deletion, and proceeded to throw an international tantrum, to ban the U.S. social media platform on Friday, until further notice. Buhari's government claims Twitter was banned as it was being misused for activities that were "capable of undermining Nigeria's corporate existence".
However, they provided zero proof of their allegation. Twitter was still working in Nigeria when the announcement was made, and millions are calling on the international community to condemn Buhari's act of censorship. Nigeria’s ministry special assistant Segun Adeyem says, "operations will be suspended indefinitely."
