TECH DIGEST – The Buhari administration’s June ban on Twitter in Nigeria, combined with proposals within Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) to allow the federal government to establish a “code of conduct” for Nigeria’s media to counter, among other things, “fake news,” rightly sets off alarm bells within the human rights community.

Nigeria is challenged on multiple fronts: a jihadi insurrection in the North East and increasingly in the North West; quarrels over water and land, especially in the Middle Belt; separatism in the South West and the South East; and kidnapping nearly everywhere. The growing perception among many in Nigeria is that the country does not meet the first condition of statehood: the provision of security for its citizens. This is the context for a drift to authoritarianism by a government under siege. As one observer writes in Foreign Policy, the Twitter ban is “another sign that dictatorship is back” in Nigeria. Such reactions draw on a well of suspicion based on Buhari’s 1983–85 tenure as military chief of state—that the now-civilian president remains, at heart, an authoritarian. While at present these concerns are overstated—institutional security-service weakness makes authoritarianism difficulty to implement—they are cause for concern and require close monitoring.

Media is reporting that discussions are underway between the Nigerian authorities and Twitter about ending the ban. The proposed APC legislation for a code of conduct framework has not become law. Nevertheless, the Twitter ban, which remains in force, is certainly a blight on Nigeria’s free-wheeling culture of freedom of speech, especially among young, well-educated urbanites not sympathetic to Nigeria’s political economy. It also hurts Nigeria’s reputation abroad.

The Nigerian government banned Twitter after the tech company took down a tweet that violated Twitter guidelines. The text of the offending tweet, which made reference to the always neuralgic topic of Biafran separatism, is below.

“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.”

Awkward relations between Twitter and the Nigerian government and between Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s chief executive, and Muhammadu Buhari have a history. Many of the October 2020 #EndSARS demonstrations against police brutality—in particular, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit—were organized on Twitter; the #EndSARS protests were supported by Jack Dorsey. Then Twitter placed its African base of operations in Ghana, a country with a much smaller population, rather than Nigeria—a slap in the face of Nigerian aspirations to become the tech hub of Africa. In terms of cultural expectations, Dorsey aligns with the outward-looking, young, relatively well-educated urban elite. That is far from Buhari’s political base and from the majority of rural, poor Nigerians. Nevertheless, Nigeria has by far the greatest population in Africa, and, with an underdeveloped banking system, it is a potential market for Square, the highly profitable bill-paying platform for which Dorsey also serves as chief executive.

As for the Twitter ban, it would appear to shoot all parties in the foot—one estimate is that the ban costs the Nigerian economy $6 million per day—and it is likely that the government will rescind it as part of a face-saving deal with Dorsey. The capture of Biafran separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu is likely to increase government self-confidence, thereby facilitating an end to the standoff with Twitter.

The post President Buhari Clashes With Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – The ECOWAS Court of Justice has fixed Friday, July 9, for the hearing of Nigerian government’s application for the consolidation of the four suits relating to the ban on Twitter in the country.

Nigerian government’s lawyer, Abdullahi Abubakar, had filed the application on July 5, a statement by the court’s press unit said on Wednesday.

The statement said the court had to adjourn the hearing of the application because two out of the four parties suing the federal government over the Twitter ban were not represented in court at Wednesday’s proceedings.

Only the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), on one hand, and Media Rights Agenda (MRA) and eight others, on the other hand, were represented by their lawyers.

The lawyers did not object to the respondent’s request for consolidation of the four pending suits.

“However the court observed that only two of the parties were represented in court and adjourned the matter to July 9, 2021, for all parties including the representatives of the parties absent at the proceeding to make their submissions on the application for consolidation,” the statement added.

The post Nigeria Govt Solicits consolidation Of TwitterBan Suits At ECOWAS Court appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – Five non-governmental organizations and four journalists have filed a suit against the Federal Government at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja.

The NGO applicants are asking the Court to declare the indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria a violation of their human rights under international law, order the Government to immediately rescind the suspension order, and compensate them for the violation of their rights.

The NGO applicants in the suit are Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Paradigm Initiative (PIN), Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ), the International Press Centre (IPC), and Tap Initiative for Citizens Development (TICD) while the journalists are Mr. David Hundeyin, Mr. Samuel Ogundipe, Ms Blessing Oladunjoye, and Mr. Nwakamri Zakari Apollo.

The suit, lodged with number ECW/CCJ/APP/29/21 ECW/CCJ/APP/29/21, in a 73-page documentation, was filed on their behalf by Abuja-based human rights and free expression lawyer, Mrs. Mojirayo Ogunlana Nkanga, under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Revised ECOWAS Treaty, and the Nigerian Constitution, among others.

They are claiming that Nigeria’s ongoing suspension of Twitter, which came into effect on or around June 4, 2021, violated their right to freedom of expression and interfered with the ability of the journalists to do their work.

The NGOs and journalists are also alleging that the general situation in Nigeria with respect to human rights, has created an environment where freedom of expression is stifled, which has contributed to creating a chilling effect on press and media freedom and which the ongoing suspension of Twitter is a continuation of.

According to them, Nigeria has consented to be bound by the obligation to respect and protect the right to freedom of expression under the ICCPR and the ACHPR and therefore, any limitation imposed by the government on the right to freedom of expression can only be justifiable where the restriction is provided by law, serves a legitimate aim, and is necessary and proportionate in a democratic society.

Contending that these three conditions must all be met before any restriction on the right to freedom of expression can be considered legitimate, they noted that the suspension of Twitter is not provided by law, that there is no justification for it under Nigeria’s domestic laws, and that it was done by the government in an arbitrary manner in circumstances where there was no public or judicial oversight, transparency or accountability.

The NGOs and journalists are asking the Court to declare the indefinite suspension of Twitter a continuous violation of their human rights under international law, particularly the right to seek and receive information as well as the right to express and disseminate opinions under Article 9(1) and (2) of the African Charter; Article 19(2) of the ICCPR and the rights of journalists under Article 66(2)(c) of the Revised ECOWAS Treaty.

They are also seeking a declaration that the Government’s directive, through the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), for the deactivation of Twitter accounts in Nigeria violates their human rights under international law and that the threat by the Attorney-General of the Federation to criminally prosecute anybody found to be using Twitter in Nigeria following the suspension of the platform also violates their human rights under international law.

The NGOs and the journalists are therefore urging the court to issue orders mandating the Government to immediately take all necessary measures to rescind the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria; to take all necessary measures to guarantee non-recurrence in order to prevent the same violation occurring again in future; compelling the Government to issue adequate reparations, including restitution, compensation and measures of satisfaction to them to be specified and submitted to the court; as well as to issue an order of injunction restraining the Government, its servants and agents from imposing criminal sanctions on individuals, including the applicants, who use Twitter or any other social media service provider.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

The suit is being litigated with the support of Media Defence, a London-based NGO, which provides legal assistance to journalists, citizen journalists and independent media.

The post Five NGOs, Journalists Sue FG To ECOWAS Court Over Twitter ban appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – Governors of Kaduna and Ondo states, Nasir El-Rufai and Rotimi Akeredolu respectively, have defied the federal government’s directive suspending activities of Twitter in Nigeria.

Both governors, who are also members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), have made tweets through their verified accounts, daring the prosecution threats made by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

Mr El-Rufai, at exactly 9:37 p.m. on Sunday, shared an opinion article titled “Based Nigeria: African country teaches US lesson in how to handle Big Tech tyranny”.

The article, authored by Nebojsa Malic, a Serbian-American journalist, justified the ban on Twitter, nudging the United States to learn from the move by the Nigerian government.

“Nigeria is a far more serious and ‘based’ country than the US, at least if President Muhammadu Buhari’s response to Twitter censorship, compared to that of Donald Trump’s,  is anything to go by,” Mr Malic wrote.

Governor Akeredolu, on the other hand, posted a statement reacting to the night attack that claimed several lives in Igangan community in Oyo State on Sunday.

He was reacting to the killings in his capacity as the Chairman of Southwest Governors Forum.

“We, on our part, are resolved to defend our people, their property, and all legitimate means of livelihood against both internal and external aggression. On this, there will be no compromise,” the statement read.

Government sources told PREMIUM TIMES that Governor El-Rufai has been outside the country for over a week. Although the source did not disclose his location, he said “the activities of Twitter is not banned in the country.”

When contacted, the spokesperson of Governor Akeredolu, Olabode Richard, said the microblogging platform was accessible to Nigerians on Sunday, adding that his principal did not make use of the Virtual Private Network (VPN) or other alternatives being explored by Nigerians.

He promised to give further response but was yet to reach out to our reporter as of the time of filing this report.

It however remains unclear if the order from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation will be effected on Messrs El-Rufai and Akeredolu.

Mr Malami had directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) in his office, “to swing into action and commence, in earnest, the process of prosecution of violators of the Federal Government De-activation of operations of Twitter in Nigeria.”

“Malami directed the DPPF to liase with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, National Communication Communication (NCC) and other relevant government agencies to ensure the speedy prosecution of offenders without any further delay, ” Mr Malami’s publicist, Umar Gwandu, had said on Saturday.

Recall that Information Minister Lai Mohammed, announced a ban on activities of the microblogging platform on Friday.

Mr Mohammed also disclosed that the federal government had ordered the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to “immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.”

Owing to the ban, Nigerians have been denied access to Twitter and can only access by bypassing domain restrictions through alternative media.

The suspension was sequel to Twitter’s deletion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s controversial tweet about the civil war after some Nigerian users flagged it.

The government, in its response, accused the platform of bias against President Buhari and undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

Although the presidency says the ban is temporary and an attempt to curb fake news, human rights and foreign missions have berated the President Buhari-led administration for censorship, calling for a reversal of the suspension

The post APC Governors Shun FG Directive On Twitter Ban appeared first on Tech Digest News.