TECH DIGEST – Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed, yesterday, said that Nigeria as a sovereign country cannot be ruled by either the policies or laws of a multinational corporation not matter “how powerful” it may be.

He said that Nigeria also has a responsible to protect national security.

The Minister spoke at an interactive session with the members of the House of Representatives Joint Committees on Information, ICT and Justice, probing the circumstances of the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria.

It will be recalled that the federal government of Nigeria early this month suspended the activities of Twitter, citing national security as its chief reason.

The suspension however came barely 48 hours after the microblogging platform deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari, threatening a civil war treatment on miscreants in the southeast of the country.

Following the public outcry, the House mandated the joint Committees to investigate the matter.

Appearing before the Joint Committees chaired by Hon. Odebunmi, Lai Mohammed said that the action of the government was within the extant laws of the land.

He added that Twitter was not registered in Nigeria and so does not pay taxes as well.

The Minister however denied that Twitter was not suspended because it deleted Buhari’s tweet.

He said: “Who is Twitter? We are talking about a sovereign country. Nigeria will not be ruled by the laws of a multinational, no matter how powerful it is. So, for us, why did we act now? There is no time we took the decision that we will not have the kind of reaction we have now. But it has gone to a stage after a persistent appeal to Twitter, and we saw how policemen were being killed, soldiers and we said enough is enough. We owe no responsibility to Twitter. It’s not registered in Nigeria. It does not employ any Nigerians or pay taxes. There are other platforms available to Nigerians to make money.

“In the press release, we also said henceforth, all OTT must register first as Nigerian companies and be licensed by the Broadcasting Commission before they can carry out business as social media platforms. We realized that many of the OTT social media platforms operating in Nigeria today are not registered in Nigeria. They make billions of naira out of our country. They pay no taxes. They employed nobody. That’s why we said we are going to suspend Twitter and at the same time all other social media platforms that are not registered in Nigeria must register.

“I know it’s true that many Nigerians have accused the FG of an attempt to stifle the media and the free speech and we say no at all. There is absolutely no intention on the part of the government to stifle free speech or the media because as you will see, why it is true that section 37, 38, 39, 40, and 41of the constitution actually provide for freedom of speech, but it is actually qualified by Section 45 of the same constitution.

“Hon. Members, like I, said the only reason we suspended the operation of Twitter is that it was promoting disunity in Nigeria and it became a national security risk. As you can see the provision of the constitution leaves no one in doubt that the provisions on freedom of expression are not absolute.

“If you look at the circumstances of section 3 of the national security act which clothes the State Security Service with the powers to preserve the internal security of Nigeria is very instructive that any platforms that threaten the internal security of Nigeria will not be allowed to operate.

“This is a case where the federal government deemed it necessary that the activities of Twitter in Nigeria were inimical to the stability of the country.

“Hon members, may I remind you that during the unfortunate #EndSARS# protest, the same played a very unsacred role by making available its platform to retweet, not just the retweeting the messages of EndSARS protesters, but raising funds for the EndSARS protesters before it was hijacked by hoodlums. And Nigerians have forgotten that this particular EndSARS protests led to the death of 57 civilians, 37 policemen, 6 soldiers, 243 properties destroyed, 200 brand new buses belonging to Lagos State government, 83 warehouses were vandalized and yet Jack Dorsey crowd-funded the activities. That’s I said that the Twitter mission in Nigeria is suspect.

“Hon. Members, we all know that IPOB is proscribed by the high court of law in Nigeria and yet it is a platform of choice through which IPOB directs its people to kill soldiers, policemen, to burn correctional centers. So both in practice and common law, we had to suspend their operations.

“I will round up by even the position of Companies Allied Act also supports the suspension of Twitters operations in Nigeria because the primary laws governing businesses in Nigeria is the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020. Twitter is not licensed in Nigeria.

“We are within the law to suspend Twitter. Our position is also supported by cyber space security act.

“Article 19(2&3) of the International convention on civil and political rights of the Cyber crimes prohibitions act empowers the federal government of Nigeria to regulate and promote the security of the Nigerian cyberspace.

“I want to make two clarifications. The first is that we did not ban Twitter. We simply suspended indefinitely the activities of Twitter. The second, we did not suspend the activities of Twitter because they deleted Mr. President’s tweet. No at all. We were very unambiguous on why we suspended Twitter.

“Yes, we have taken into consideration Nigerians doing business on Twitter. It is because there is a country called Nigeria that people can do business on any platform. And this is very fundamental. There are other platforms. Facebook, google, WhatsApp for people to use. But in a matter of national security, individual interest will lag behind.

“We said the doors are not banned. We are ready to speak with twitter. Twitter has written a letter seeking for government dialogue and just today, I issued a statement which I announced the government team that is ready to meet Twitter chaired by my humble self with the Minister of Justice, Communication, Works and Housing, Labour and some agencies of government. We hope that the Commitee will move fast and have dialogue and understanding with Twitter.

“The OTT must be registered as Nigerian companies after which they will be licensed.”

The minister however hoped that the face-off will be resolved soon.

“Hopefully, if we were able to resolve this matter quickly, they will resume the use of Twitter”, he said.

Lai Mohammed also advised Nigerians using VPN to stop for their own personal security.

According to him, VPN would expose even their bank account and make it vulnerable.

The minister added that the government will also suspend any other social media platforms that may misbehave

“If any plaftorm does it, we will suspend their operations too because there is country called Nigeria that they can do business”, he said.

In his remarks earlier, a member of the Committee, Hon. Fatihu Mohammed who represents Daura Sandamu Baure federal constituency of Katsina State, while supporting the twitter ban asked Nigerians to jettison social media.

He said “My colleagues have spoken the minds of their Constituencies. If I will speak the mind of my Constituency, I will include the President himself inside because out of 360 of us, I am the only one voted by the president. Let’s put Nigeria first and lets call a spade a spade. The media is at war. We can see what is happening in social media. I have worked in NCC for 10 years. I know what the department, cybercrime. We should please, regulate the media. If that tweet was not brought down, the dirty things will happen in Nigeria will be less than what we are seeing now because if the minister did not ban Twitter by the instruction of Mr. President, the kind of insults the sovereignty of Nigeria will have by the users of tweet will be more dangerous than what we are facing now. Let’s tell ourselves the truth. Nigeria first. Sometimes, I am reading tweets, I am disappointed with the youths and the future.

“I went to a unity school, Federal Government College, Kwali. When south east are coming, we lined up shouting that they are coming with their buses. But that thing is missing. Why are we bringing issues, trying to cause confusion where there is no confusion? It’s just interest. For God’s sake, what is social media? Are we eating social media? Let’s go back to the resources and have it, my brothers. Let’s keep this thing outside and face the real problem we are facing in Nigeria.”

In his speech, the Chairman of the Committee said the investigation was necessary to know the circumstances of the suspension hence the interface with the Minister.

He promised further legislative action on the matter.

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TECH DIGEST – In a new development on Sunday, The federal government is in fresh move to introduce an internet firewall to have a separate network for the Nigerian Internet that will give the government full control over social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

The new development as gathered by DAILY GIST is to block Nigerians that are still accessing Twitter through VPN and other means despite the federal government’s suspension.

The Federal Government had on Friday ordered all Telecoms to block Nigerians from accessing Twitter.

This action has left many Nigerians with no other choice but to engage the services VPN providers as an alternative option to access Twitter and other social media networks as Nigerian Telecom operators have already confirmed they received instructions to bar their subscribers from the micro-blogging site, Twitter.

DAILY GIST reports that the federal government on Saturday ordered the prosecution of Nigerians using the micro blogging site, Twitter after the suspension.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami in a statement, directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation to commence immediate prosecution of those who violate the Federal Government’s order suspending Twitter operations in Nigeria.

According to a report by FIJ, The federal government has reached out to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) to discuss plans to build an internet firewall.

The government officials present at the meeting include Ibrahim Gambari, the Chief of Staff to the President, and Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture. The internet firewall is a way of having a separate network for the Nigerian Internet that will give the government control over social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

This is similar to the internet filtering system China operates, called the Great Firewall.

The internet firewall will also give the Nigerian government power to block VPN, which many Nigerians are using to access Twitter. The CAC is the central internet regulator, censor, oversight and control agency for China and answers to the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, headed by Xi Jinping, China’s President. Since its existence, the CAC, which also gives approval to data by Chinese companies outside of China, regulates usernames on the Chinese Internet, licences news information services, and bans comments that “harm national security” or “harm the nations honour interest”.

The Nigerian government has in the past few years sought a way to control freedom of expression online.

The new federal government directive which will regulate the social media may be the beginning of what the government had planned to do over the years.

The suspension of Twitter is not going to be the only affected social media. The federal government on Friday directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence licensing all Over-the-Top (OTT) and social media operators in Nigeria.

Over-the-Top (OTT) services are essential media services offered directly to viewers via the internet. Most often, such contents can be streamed on computers, smartphones, and other devices. In Nigeria, Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook, FB Messenger, Skype, iROKOtv, and Netflix are currently running on OTT.

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TECH DIGEST – The Executive Director of the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Dr Y. Z. Ya’u, has called for the immediate restoration of access to Twitter.

He also called on the National Assembly to declare the banning of Twitter illegal and unconstitutional.

Ya’u said the country had to proactively safeguard against similar action to other OTT.

He described the federal government’s decision to ban Twitter operations in Nigeria as undemocratic and unconstitutional.

Ya’u, who was speaking at a press conference on Saturday in Kano, also said the government had been ill-informed about the decision.

The federal government, on Friday through the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension following the micro-blogging site’s decision to delete a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari for violating its community standards.

But CITAD said the quality of advice that Buhari received showed the level of ignorance of the working of Over the top (OTTs) in the world.

Dr Ya’u said: “First, Twitter does not need to be in Nigeria for its business to strive.

“By suspending its operation in the country the government is not hurting the interests of Twitter but rather jeopardising the jobs of the Nigerian staff of Twitter and more fundamentally, derogating the right of Nigerians to freedom of expression which is guaranteed in both our constitution and in the Africa Peoples and Human Rights which Nigeria is a signatory to, among other covenants of human rights.

”By shutting down access to Twitter for the millions of Nigerians, the government has totally curtailed the rights of Nigerians to this service.

“Secondly, it shows the lack of understanding of the state of technology in the world.

“Many countries have unsuccessfully tried to block social media access for their citizens, but the increasing number of by-pass technologies means that such action is fruitless and rather a drain on the useful resource that could be used to support educating citizens on how to use the internet.

“Thirdly, when government argues that Twitter was selective in punishing misuse of its platform, it betrays a lack of understanding of the issues at hand.

”Twitter, like any other OTTs, has its community standards. Violating any of these standards elicits punishment which ranges from deletion to suspension and to even outright ban on the platform.

“One of the standards is that no message that is threatening violence against other people should be allowed on the platform.

“Clearly, the President message was a threat to violence. It does not matter that he was responding to a violent situation.

“That other people had, in the past, made similar messages and were not so punished is not an argument for two wrongs do not make a right.

“It only illustrates the fourth nativity of the government. When the Government or the President noticed that some people were spreading messages inciting or inciting violence, what they ought to do was to flag this off with Twitter.

“Once a message is flagged, the relevant OTT (in this case Twitter) is duty-bound to respond to it by taking action.

“When it is dissatisfied with the action taken, it can appeal the case and in the case of Facebook, it has a global Independent Board of Oversight which deals with controversial appeals and whose decisions or rulings are binding on the OTT.

“The other aspect of the naivety of the government’s response is that it does not understand the nature of hate speech for which it has over a long period been pushing for legislation.

“Clearly, if President Buhari were the President of USA when Twitter banned President Trump, he probably could have ordered the army to take over the company and dragged its management and owners to prison.

“This intolerance of dissenting views is dangerous to democracy and unacceptable,” the CITAD Executive Director added.

He also expressed the fear that the act is a preamble to the long ambition of the government to control access to social media in the country.

He explained that the government ought to have educated citizens on how to use social media and not how to prevent them from using it.

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TECH DIGEST – The federal government has spoken on the indefinite suspension of operations of the social media giant, Twitter in Nigeria.

Earlier, TechDigest.ng reported that the government had halted the operations of the microblogging and social networking service in the country.

Commenting on the report, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, confirmed it to be true in a statement made available by Segun Adeyemi, the special assistant to the president on Media in Abuja on Friday, June 4.

Mohammed explained that the decision was taken to curb the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

The minister, however, disclosed that President Muhammdu Buhari’s administration has also directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.

This medium previously reported that the federal government had accused the social media giant, Twitter, of taking sides i​​n the agitations of the proscribed Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) in the South East Nigeria.

This allegation surfaced barely one hour after Twitter on Wednesday deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet threatening action against the people supposedly disturbing the peace of the nation.

Mohammed said: “Twitter had not been fair to Nigeria”, saying while the social media giant had conveniently ignored inciting tweets by the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, and his cohorts, displaying the same biases it did during the #ENDSARS protest, where government and private properties were looted and set on fire, all in the name of right to protest, it found the President’s tweets offensive.

“Twitter may have its own rules; it’s not the universal rule. If Mr. President, anywhere in the world feels very bad and concern about a situation, he is free to express such views. Now, we should stop comparing apples with oranges. If an organization is proscribed, it is different from any other which is not proscribed.

“Two, any organization that gives directives to its members, to attack police stations, to kill policemen, to attack correctional centres, to kill warders, and you are now saying that Mr. President does not have the right to express his dismay and anger about that? We are the ones guilty of double standards.

“I don’t see anywhere in the world where an organisation, a person will stay somewhere outside Nigeria, and will direct his members to attack the symbols of authority, the police, the military, especially when that organisation has been proscribed. By whatever name, you can’t justify giving orders to kill policemen or to kill anybody you do not agree with,” he said.

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