Presidency Defends Twitter Ban, Says Action Was Taken To Limit Violent Consequences Of Fake News
Presidency has on Saturday said its decision to ban Twitter was not just a response to the removal of the President’s tweet, but to limit violent consequences of fake news.
According to a statement signed by spokesman Garba Shehu, Twitter has long been accused of spreading “misinformation and fake news” which can have “real world violent consequences.”
Federal Government announced an “indefinite suspension” of Twitter operations in Nigeria on Friday.
By early Saturday, users across the network started to experience difficulties in accessing the service and many resorted to using Virtual Private Networks (VPN).
The decision to suspend Twitter has been criticised by many, but the Presidency in its Saturday statement insisted it was a justified move.
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Shehu stated;
The removal of President Buhari’s tweet was disappointing. The censoring seemed based on a misunderstanding of the challenges Nigeria faces today.
The tweet deleted by Twitter referenced the Nigerian civil war, in which millions of Igbo died, many due to starvation.
President Buhari threatened to deal with Indigenous People Of Biafra, a proscribed group seeking secession Southern Nigeria “in the language they understand”, a statement many interpreted as a repeat of the civil war injustices meted out to Igbos.
He stated;
Amid outrage, the Presidency stated that;
The temporary suspension of Twitter is not just a response to the removal of the President’s post. There has been a litany of problems with the social media platform in Nigeria, where misinformation and fake news spread through it have had real world violent consequences. All the while, the company has escaped accountability.
Major tech companies must be alive to their responsibilities. They cannot be allowed to continue to facilitate the spread of religious, racist, xenophobic and false messages capable of inciting whole communities against each other, leading to loss of many lives. This could tear some countries apart.
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The presidential aide noted;
Nevertheless, the removal of President Buhari’s tweet was disappointing. The censoring seemed based on a misunderstanding of the challenges Nigeria faces today.
The President in his address at the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA in 2019 said the world was shocked and startled by the massacre in New Zealand by a lone gunman taking the lives of 50 worshippers. This and similar crimes which have been fueled by social media networks risk seeping into the fabric of an emerging digital culture.
He explained what Buhari meant by the post on the Civil War experience, adding that with the current security challenges, the federal government needs to take measures to prevent escalation of tensions.
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Shehu stressed;
The tweet was not a threat, but a statement of fact. A terrorist organisation (IPOB) poses a significant threat to the safety and security of Nigerian citizens.
When the President said that they will be treated ‘in a language they understand,’ he merely reiterated that their force shall be met with force. It is a basic principle of security services response world over. This is not promotion of hate, but a pledge to uphold citizens’ right to freedom from harm. The government cannot be expected to capitulate to terrorists.
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It added;
IPOB is proscribed under Nigerian law. Its members murder innocent Nigerians. They kill policemen and set government property on fire. Now, they have amassed a substantial stockpile of weapons and bombs across the country.
Twitter does not seem to appreciate the national trauma of our country’s civil war. This government shall not allow a recurrence of that tragedy.
