TECHDIGEST – The Federal Government and Tech giant, Google have resolved to tackle the use of private and unlisted YouTube channels and livestreams by proscribed groups and terrorist organisations.

The agreement was reached on Thursday in Abuja when a team of Google officials paid the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed a courtesy visit.

During the visit, the minister requested that channels and emails containing names of proscribed terrorists groups and their affiliates should not be allowed on Google platforms.

READ ALSO: Pantami Unveils Books on Datafication and Cybersecurity at Emerging Technologies Forum

The minister cited examples of such channels to include  Biafra Digest TV, Umu Biafra TV, Biafra Digest, Asa Biafra TV.

According to him, some of the channels use local languages and dialects during
their broadcast to evade being censored.

“Your platform is a platform of choice for IPOB, a proscribe terrorist group.

“We implore you not to make your platform available to them for their acts of violence and destabilization.

“We hope you will cooperate with us as well as our security agencies in this direction,” he said.

Mohammed noted that Nigerians are among the most vibrant social media users in the world, with over 100 million Internet users in the country.

He said such internet platforms as Google, Facebook, Tik-Tok, Twitter and Whatsapp enable Nigerians to interact, share ideas, earn a living and participate in social and political affairs.

“However, these platforms are also used by unscrupulous persons or groups for subversive and nefarious activities.

“Governments worldwide have reacted in varied and measured ways to protect their citizens.

“Our interest, as a government, is to create a framework for protecting our citizens from the harmful impact of misinformation and fake news, as well as harmful use of the internet,” he said.

The minister disclosed that the government recently proposed a “Code of Practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms/ Internet Intermediaries”.

He said the code which attempts to provide a framework for collaboratively protecting Nigerian users of Internet platforms was apt as the country prepares for general elections next year.

He expressed the commitment of the  government to work with Google, other social media platforms, civil society, lawyers, media practitioners to ensure a responsible use of the Internet.

Charles Murito, Google Regional Director, Government affairs said his organisation shared the sentiment of the federal government on the abuse of social media by some groups.

He said they have taken note of the listed channels and urged the ministry to compile others and send to them for necessary actions.

“We share thesame sentiment and we do not want our platforms to be used for wrong purposes

“I want to assure you that we are going to take this issue seriously.

“Provide us with the list of the channels, we will work with you to ensure that they will no longer be of nuisance to you,” he said.

Murito also told the minister to give the contacts of those who can liase with them in the ministry for flagging of unwholesome contents noticed on their platforms

He said Google had set up a desk years back for flagging of fake news, misinformation and other unwholesome contents on YouTube.

Murito was accompanied by Mr Ade Adewolu, Google Senior Manager, Government Affairs.

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TECHDIGEST – Hours after the Federal Government lifted the ban on Twitter, details of the negotiations and how Nigerian government officials made the microblogging site to accept strict conditions, have emerged.

The ban was lifted on Thursday after  Twitter proved beyond reasonable doubt that it has accepted the terms put forward by Nigeria.

The announcement was made by the Director General, National information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi.

“The FGN has asked Twitter to fulfil some conditions before restoring its services. These conditions addressed legal registration of operations, taxation, and managing prohibited publication in line with Nigerian laws. Twitter has agreed to meet all the conditions set by the FGN. Consequently, the FGN and Twitter have decided on an execution timeline, which has started this week.

“Our engagement with Twitter opens a new chapter in global digital diplomacy and sets a new operational template for Twitter to come back stronger for the benefit of Nigerians,” Kashifu said.

“The following are the resolutions agreed with Twitter. Inc. :

“Twitter has committed to establishing a legal entity in Nigeria during the first quarter of 2022. The legal entity will register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). The establishment of the entity is Twitter’s first step in demonstrating its long-term commitment to Nigeria.

“Twitter has agreed to appoint a designated country representative to interface with Nigerian authorities. The Global Public Policy team is also directly available through a dedicated communication channel.

“Twitter has agreed to comply with applicable tax obligations on its operations under Nigerian law.

“Twitter has agreed to enrol Nigeria in its Partner Support and Law Enforcement Portals. The Partner Support Portal provides a direct channel for government officials and Twitter staff to manage prohibited content that violates Twitter community rules. At the same time, the Law Enforcement Portal provides a channel for the law enforcement agencies to submit a report with a legal justification where it suspects that content violates Nigerian Laws. Taken together, these represent a comprehensive compliance apparatus.

“Twitter has agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgement of Nigerian laws and the national culture and history on which such legislation has been built and work with the FGN and the broader industry to develop a Code of Conduct in line with global best practices, applicable in almost all developed countries.

“Therefore, the FGN lifts the suspension of the Twitter operations in Nigeria from midnight of 13th January 2022.

“We encourage all users of the Twitter platform to maintain ethical behaviour and refrain from promoting divisive, dangerous, and distasteful information on the platform. As patriotic citizens, we need to be mindful that anything illegal offline is also illegal online and that committing a crime using a Nigerian Internet Protocol (IP) is synonymous with committing a crime within our jurisdiction,” Kashifu added.

The federal government had on June 4  announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter. The suspension came after the microblogging site deleted tweets from President Muhammadu Buhari’s account.

The President had tweeted that the country will treat the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the “language they understand”.

Defending the decision, Lai Mohammed, the information minister, condemned the deletion of the president’s post and accused Twitter of “double standards”.

The post How FG made Twitter Bow to Stringent Conditions Before Lifting Ban appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST – Federal Government says social media platform, Twitter has agreed to all the conditions laid out regarding its operations in Nigeria.

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment Barr. Festus Keyamo announced this on a Channels Television program Sunday Politics.

The minister, who is also a member of a committee, set up to review the operations of the platform since its ban on June 4, said the committee has so far made significant progress.

Recalls that Information, Culture and Tourism Minister Lai Mohammed announced the ban.

Lai said, “The reason the president took that step is to recalibrate our relationship with Twitter and not to drive them away from our country.’’

He went on: “That recalibration, we have started it and the President graciously added me to the committee.

“We also set up a technical committee to interface with Twitter and come up with a lot of conditions for them to fulfill for us to lift the suspension.

“It was Twitter that reached out to the Federal Government to say they want to know what and what they can do to straighten up the relationship with the Federal Government and so, we have gone far but I may not, at this forum, let out a lot but we gave them a lot of conditions and they have agreed to all the conditions.”

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TECHDIGEST – The federal government has ordered that the ban on Twitter’s operation in Nigeria should be lifted.

President Muhammadu Buhari made the disclosure in his October 1 independence anniversary speech on Friday morning.

The president, however, said the lifting of the ban is based on Twitter meeting the conditions set by the Presidential Committee (and its Technical Team) over which they engaged with the microblogging site.

Recall, Nigeria’s authority had officially banned Twitter’s indefinitely, thereby restricting it from operating in the country after the social media platform deleted tweets made by President Buhari, warning the IPOB that they “will be treated in the language they understand”.

Fielding questions from the press at the State House after Wednesday’s FEC meeting, the minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, updated Nigerians on the issue saying that progress has been made in resolving the stalemate following series of meetings.

President Buhari’s tweet read: “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.”

Few months after Nigeria’s authority placed the ban on the microblogging site that the government disclosed that it was getting to the point of lifting the Twitter suspension, social networking platform.

The Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed, explained that Twitter has acceded to seven out of ten demands put forward by the government before the social media giant could continue its operation in Nigeria.

Mohammed made this known in Washington DC during his on-going engagement with various global media outlets, global think tanks, and influencers.

During his respective interaction with Reuters, Washington Post and Bloomberg Quicktake, a live streaming news service, the minister said there is an end in sight of amicable settlement of the ban.

He said: “We believe that even the other three outstanding demands, are not really about whether they agreed or not but about timing and scheduling. That is what gave me the confidence that we are getting nearer to an agreement.’’

The minister said, among the demands made from twitter was for the platform to register as a Nigerian company, pay taxes from revenue made from the country and ensure that harmful contents are regulated.

According to him, “As recently as last week, we exchange correspondent with twitter, and when I left home a few days ago, we are expecting a reply from them.

“It is rather, more left with twitter to respond to grey areas that we asked them to look into. We are not inflexible in our negotiation with twitter because we recognize both the positive and negative aspects of the social media.’’

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TECHDIGEST – The Federal Government has again assured Nigerians that all issues that led to the suspension of activities of the popular micro blogging platform, Twitter, will be sorted out soon.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, gave the assurance while fielding questions from State House correspondents after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Mr Lai Mohammed, who declined to give a specific timeline on when the suspension would be lifted, said the ongoing discussions between the government and Twitter had been “productive” and “respective”.

Asked on the latest on the Twitter ban in the country as he had promised on August 11 that the ban would be lifted very soon, the minister said: “I think even Twitter itself two days ago gave what I will call a progress report on our talks with them, and I think if I want to quote them rightly, it has been productive and quite respectful.

“And as to the qualifying, when, how soon is soon, right? I want to assure you that the time that Twitter operation has been suspended, between the time it has been suspended, and when it will be restored is by far, much, much shorter.

“In other words, if the operation has been suspended for about 100 days now, I can tell that we’re just actually talking about a few, just a few more days now.

“What we’re trying to do is the changes that have been going on, but we need to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, but I can assure us that we’re not mindful of the anxiety of Nigerians and both parties are working very hard to put a closure on the matter.

“And like Twitter itself said the changes have been very, very productive on both parties. It has not been advisory at all. And it’s quite respectful. Thank you very much.”

When asked further to be specific on when the matter would be resolved, Mohammed said: “Honestly, we have gone very far, I won’t be specific, but we have gone very far, and honestly, it’s just going to be very, very soon, just take my word for that.

“Honestly, I can’t be more specific than what I’ve told you that it is going to be very soon.”
The federal government had said the micro blogging platform was suspended because it provided an avenue for people threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria.

Mr Lai had Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, helped to fund the recent #EndSARS protest while allowing the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to use the platform to call for the killing of policemen.

Mr Lai had on June 9 listed conditions that must be met by Twitter, including that it must now be registered in Nigeria as a business concern.
There are reports that Nigeria has lost at least $360 million over the Twitter ban.

The post FG To Lift Twitter Suspension In Few Days appeared first on Tech Digest News.

By Bashir Nasir Sani

TECHDIGEST – It is usually said that a decision made out of haste, with little to no deliberation will often have unforeseen and perhaps even irreversible repercussions. By nature, the hastier the decision, the more adverse its effects. Well, before we go deeper into this conversation, permit me to refresh your minds a bit.

It may be recalled that, on June 5th 2021, the Nigerian government placed an indefinite ban on Twitter from operating in the country, after the social media platform deleted a series of tweets made by the country’s President Muhammadu Buhari. The tweets were aimed at secessionist agitators and the criminal components of society.

While we won’t go into the ethics of the aforementioned ban, one thing we can all agree on was its rash nature, coming just days after the deletion of the president’s tweets. As mentioned above, the hastier a decision, the more adverse its consequences.

One such adverse consequence was the immediate impact on the country’s economy, as Nigeria was reported to have lost over 6 billion Naira just 3 days after the ban. This is quite a huge sum of money to lose in a few days, especially when you consider the fact that the nation is currently the poverty capital of the world, with an unemployment rate of 32.5 per cent as of 2021.

Granted, this amount was speculative and has never been officially stated by the federal government. Of course, it would not be far-fetched if the figures were indeed accurate. Seeing as how almost every government agency has a Twitter account, and how a huge chunk of businesses in the country, from small enterprises to large scale companies also have Twitter accounts.

There are also certain individuals, often referred to as influencers, that manage a sort of ad-hoc online marketing agency. Such agencies are often run exclusively on Twitter.

Thus it’s not an understatement to say that we are all breathing a collective sigh of relief as news has surfaced signifying an end to this stalemate.

According to the minister of information and culture, Lai Muhammad, the government’s committee negotiating with Twitter would soon come to an agreement and make recommendations to the government on the issue. He expressed confidence that everything will be ironed out with Twitter within “a matter of days or weeks”.

Well, whether in a matter of days or weeks, it does look like the end of the ban is indeed in sight. However, what are the economic effects of this move? What positive impact would it have on the country? And how can it be regulated so that such problems do not resurface?

Contrary to popular belief, Nigeria is not the first country to have placed an embargo on Twitter, In fact, Nigeria is currently the sixth nation to have blocked access to the social media platform.

While each one of these other five countries has its motive for doing so, Nigeria’s main reason, apart from the deletion of the president’s tweets, of course, is to curb the unbridled spread of misinformation.

Although this might be a good motive, as mentioned above, suddenly banning with little contemplation had a major impact on the country’s economy.

So, how can the government control fake news while not entirely blocking access to the social media platform?

First and foremost, the Federal Government could control the spread of misinformation simply by educating the masses. Fake news usually feeds on ignorance. As the popular saying goes, “a man who stands for nothing, will fall for everything”. Thus proactive disclosure of information to citizens can enable them to spot false information long before its eventual escalation.

The government could even create Twitter accounts dedicated exclusively to educating Nigerians, especially on sensitive issues that usually attract merchants of misinformation.

Another way to limit false information from spreading is through the employment of fact-checkers. Unbeknownst to most, another popular social media platform Facebook has partnerships with independent fact-checkers whose sole purpose is to debunk all forms of misinformation on the social network.

Not only will the use of fact-checkers provide employment opportunities for Nigerians, especially the youth, but since the government is currently in discourse with Twitter, they can work closely together to improve the efficiency at which misinformation is controlled.

It is worth noting that while the lifting of the Twitter ban in itself might not undo the damage inflicted on the country’s economy, and while the points mentioned above might not completely stop the spread of misinformation, they can both lay the groundwork for future developments.

As we all know, every journey begins with a single step, and these might be very promising first steps.

Bashir Nasir Sani writes  from Abuja.

The post On Twitter Ban And The Spread Of Fake News appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST – This week makes it roughly 10 weeks since the Nigerian government made the radical move of placing an indefinite suspension on Twitter and by so doing, restricting arguably one of the top three most popular microblogging site in the world from operating in Nigeria and banning Nigerians from using it. Since that ban, Nigerian media houses too have been restricted from using the social media handle to interact with readers, viewers and listeners and from referring to twitter as a source of news.

To many observers, the chronicles of events that led to the great ban is quite clear and simple.

Act 1: Two days to the official banning of Twitter, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari via his verified Twitter handle posts a comment via Twitter warning those “misbehaving” in the South-east of the country. In his own words: “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.” His words were read as a threat and unnerving message by many and comments condemning his Tweet abounded in Twitterland.

Act 2: Nigerian government through the Information Minister, Lai Mohammed announces the ban on Twitter. Mobile phone networks and other internet services providers were then ordered to block access to Twitter and they duly complied. To support and strengthen the position of the Information Minister, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice also joined the act to announce immediate prosecution of offenders of the Federal Government ban on Twitter operations in Nigeria, telling the public prosecutors to swing into action against anyone, individual or corporate entity that dares to err.

On every occasion, the Nigeria Government insists: the ban on Twitter is more about commercial and fiscal compliance and less about daring to delete the President’s post. Twitter makes money in Nigeria but does not pay tax plus it is a platform for fake news the government explains. To many observers however the matter is really simple: “the witch wailed yesterday and the baby dies today, who does not know that the wailing of yesterday is cause of today’s death,” they conclude.

A lot has been said about the ban of Twitter in Nigeria, here are few more reflections that come to view when one looks at Nigeria through the prism of the use and ban of Twitter. The images that come out of that prism say a lot about us as a people and a country.

Ultimately, beyond and above the reasons that lead to the banning, history will record that with the ban on Twitter, Nigeria joins an exclusive club of just eight countries in the world that have banned social media networks, if that number impresses you then do find out and have a look at the countries with whom Nigeria now share listings. Let us name just two here to give you a taste: Iran and North Korea.

Let us assume and believe the government’s words that the Twitter ban was neither a petty act of vengeance nor an attempt to gag an increasingly disenchanted and exasperated public, but an act to regularise and earn revenue from a profit-making organization. Seen through the prism of the Twitter ban, it will appear Nigeria of today is a country wherein government in a decree like style of the bad old military days bans and then explains why later. It disrupts and then asks for order.

Those time tested basic democratic and libertarian concepts and processes of dialogue, warning, negotiations, court orders, and general care that government accord private entities as a symbol of respect for liberty and innovation in progressive and prosperous societies seem not to matter here.

Twitter is just one organization, but its users are more. We shall dwell on the quantitative dimension of the users of Twitter later, for now let us look at the qualitative side of things. Due to its format and some other factors, analyst agree that Twitter is arguably one of the most sophisticated social media handles out there. Though easily open to all and thus used by all sorts of characters, Twitter users are generally more educated and more informed than the average population. They use the platform to seek information and validation, interact with similar and higher minds, sell and buy, love, learn and laugh. With a click of button, thousands sometimes millions are reached and engaged on issues that range from the absurd to the intense, on Twitter lives have been saved, career made and institutions corrected. We might just remember here that most public offices and public office holders also engage regularly on Twitter.

Yet with so much going on that platform and to so many important sectors of this society, a few individuals by virtue of the power invested in them decided in a short space of time to freeze and stop all. How could they and in whose name? History will ask tomorrow and some of us as asking today.

Elementary Watson: Because they can. It seems clear to those in power that anything goes and nothing will happen to them. No office to hold them to account and no one to fear.

There are some debates going on about the actual number of Twitter users in Nigeria; some say over 39 million others say a lot less. Even if they were just 1 million, logic will make one think that if you curtail the freedom of expression of 1 million people, elites that can fight back and mobilise others, there would most likely be a heavy civic backlash. Amazingly not in this story.

Act 3: The citizens, the elites did not stand their ground let alone fight back. Legislators did not get enough pressure from their most sophisticated constituents to say this cannot stand, the courts were approached by the few usual suspects. What did majority of our elites do? They simply conformed or look for way to bypass irritation: They simply moved on to the virtual private network (VPN).

Just like their analogue parents went for generators instead of insisting on stable electricity, and SUVs rather than good roads. The digital children are today using VPN instead of insisting this is wrong and must not be allowed.

Anthony Kila, a professor, is a director at the Centre for International and Advanced Professional Studies (CIAPS), Lagos

The post The Prism Called Twitter in Nigeria appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST – Twitter will open a Nigeria office as part of the agreement reached to unban its operations in the country, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, told the media this week in Abuja.

The micro blogging site sees 2022 as the earliest possible date to set up its Nigerian office as Abuja begins the process of unbanning Twitter after it forced network service providers to unplugs its operations over two months ago.

According to the minister, most of the conditions issued out to Twitter have been accepted by the social media company.

Twitter has over three million active users in Nigeria. According to Statista, Nigeria had approximately 33 million active social media users as at March 2021. WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, is the most popular platform used in the country. Twitter is the 3rd most popular after Instagram

The government had on June 4, 2021, suspended Twitter barely two days after the social media platform deleted a tweet by the President Muhammadu Buhari. It also accused Twitter of promoting content that put Nigeria’s corporate existence at risk. The suspension was indefinite and interpreted by many as a ban.

But many Nigerians have bypassed the Twitter suspension by using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

Banning Twitter had exposed the Nigerian government to numerous legal and political backlashes. In a landmark ruling that further weakened Nigerian government’s argument for banning Twitter, the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in June 23 held that government cannot prosecute Twitter users.

The envoys of the US, UK, Canada and the European Union, had also in a joint statement in June, condemned the ban warning it erases citizens’ right to information and free expression.

The post Twitter To Open Nigeria Office As FG Agrees To Lift Suspension appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECHDIGEST – The Nigerian Government has said the suspension on Twitter’s activities in Nigeria will soon be lifted following agreement that has been reached in most areas of contention with the platform.

“We’ve made tremendous progress,”minister for information Lai Mohammed said on Wednesday. “The end for an amicable solution is in sight.”

Mohammed gave the indication while briefing newsmen at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the State House, Abuja.

Giving update on the government’s negotiation with the microblogging site, the minister provided further insight into the government’s conditions given to the platform, saying that most of them have been accepted.

He said the areas still pending in the negotiations were Twitter setting up an office, a Twitter staff of management cadre that will serve as the country representative, among others were being discussed by the parties.

The minister revealed that in the area of a Nigerian office, even though Twitter has agreed to the condition, the microblogging platform is, however, maintaining that the earliest it can establish it is 2022.

He expressed confidence that everything will be trashed with Twitter within a few days or weeks.

He said the federal government’s committee negotiating with Twitter will meet on the agreement soon to make recommendations.

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TECH DIGEST – House of Reps member representing APC-Ebonyi, Chinedu Ogah, on Tuesday stated that if the law regulating social media had been implemented, the activities of micro-blogging site, Twitter, would have been checked.

Rep. Ogah who is a member of the House Committee on Information said; “For example, in China, social media is being regulated and such a thing is not in Nigeria, and we have all those agencies that are capable of the regulation in the country”.

Also, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism, said that the Federal Government’s ban on Twitter’s operations was in the country’s interest.

The minister, who stated this when he appeared before the House Committee on Information on Tuesday, in Abuja, cited various sections of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in support of the action that was officially taken in the light of the security challenges facing the country.

Mohammed said the Federal Government had begun talks with the micro-blogging site to resolve the matter, adding, however, that until then, the platform remained banned.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on June 4, the Federal Government placed a ban on the operations of Twitter, on the grounds that the social media platform was being used as a tool for destabilising the country.

Rep Shaba Ibrahim (PDP-Kogi), a member of the committee, observed that anything would pale into insignificance where national interest and security were at stake.

He said that the minister did a good rendition of the legal framework that supported the steps taken, adding that allowing such infractions by Twitter to go unchecked, until the President’s tweet was taken down, amounted to a disservice to the country.

Another committee member, Fatuhu Mohammed (APC-Katsina), called for the regulation of social media because the time had come for the country to face up to the real issues confronting it.

He added that if the Minister had not banned Twitter, with the permission of President Buhari, the kind of insults to the sovereignty of Nigeria, coming from its users, was worrisome.

(NAN)

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