Nigeria’s broadcasting regulator, the National Broadcasting Commission, has ordered all broadcasters in the country to stop using Twitter. The directive was issued Monday morning, and the broadcasting stations include TV and radio platforms in the country.
“In accordance with the above guideline, broadcasters are hereby recommended to uninstall Twitter handles and not use Twitter as a source (UGC) for gathering information for the presentation of news and programs, especially for phone calls,” it says in one Excerpt from the statement.
That comes days after the country shut down Twitter when the microblogging platform received a controversial tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari. put out. The government also cited the alleged trick of the microblogging platform to “undermine its business existence” as one of the reasons for the indefinite suspension..
In addition to this directive, there was an instruction to NBC, “immediately” start the process of licensing all OTT and social media activities in Nigeria. ” While this is still in the works, Nigerians have been unable to use Twitter since the early hours of Saturday morning as telecom operators restricted access to the platform. However, most people have used VPNs and other alternative platforms to bypass domain restrictions.
However, after Nigerians disregarded the government’s order, the country’s Attorney General and Justice Minister Abubakar Malami issued a disturbing directive through his spokesman over the weekend.
“Malami instructed the director of the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (DPPF) in the Federal Prosecutor’s Office and Minister of Justice to take action and start seriously the process of prosecuting violations by the federal government, disabling the activities of Twitter in Nigeria, “the statement said.
Have no public arrests been made so far. And while no one is sure how the Attorney General and his cohorts will carry out this instruction, there are fears that the government will do so employ illegal means to reach your plans.
There has now been widespread criticism of the Twitter ban at home and abroad. In a joint statement with the EU, the US, Canada and the UK expressed their disappointment with the ban. They called on the Buhari-led government on charges of censorship and human rights abuses, and called on the Nigerian government to reconsider its stance.
Yesterday it seemed like the government was giving in. The president said through his spokesman that the nationwide ban on Twitter was only a temporary measure to curb misinformation and fake news.
“There have been a number of issues with the social media platform in Nigeria, where misinformation and fake news have had violent consequences in the real world,” the government said. The platform allowed “religious, racist, xenophobic and false messages to be spread that could tear some countries apart,” added the spokesman.
But with today’s directive, the government may be talking both sides of the mouth. The statement released referred to section 5.6.3 of the NBC Act on the role it believes Twitter is playing in Nigeria. The Broadcasting Code requires broadcasters to pay attention to materials that, when using user-generated content (UGC), can lead to dissatisfaction, panic or division in society.. “
The regulator didn’t forget to leave a subtle warning stating that it will be unpatriotic for any broadcaster in the country to continue to patronize Twitter as a source of information.
