President Muhammadu Buhari had intended to suspend both Twitter and Facebook’s operations in Nigeria after being angered by the removal of his ‘civil war’ posts, a report by Daily Beast says. The US media platform made this known in a special report explaining what it said was the real reason Buhari banned Twitter. President Buhari’s post on both Twitter and Facebook referred to the Nigeria-Biafra war, which led to the death of about three million people, mostly from the eastern part of the country.
After many Nigerians on Twitter reported the president’s tweet, the social media company deleted it on Wednesday, saying it had violated its policy on abusive behavior. Followed shortly by the deletion of his Facebook video wherein he vowed to treat trouble makers in the language they understood. Subsequently, the federal government, through information minister Lai Mohammed announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria on the ground that it was used to spread false information and “activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”
Many have faulted the suspension saying it violated Nigerians’ rights to freedom of speech and described it as economic albatross. But a source told Daily Beast that the removal of the president’s posts on the social media platforms was “embarrassing,” hence the suspension of Twitter. According to the source, the president planned to shut down Facebook in the country as well, but his aides advised against it to not seem that it was in reaction to the deleted posts.
“He was furious and wanted to deal with both Twitter and Facebook. The action [the social media companies] took was embarrassing to the president,” the media outlet quoted the official in the president’s office to have said. “The action taken by Facebook ultimately triggered the ban on Twitter even though Facebook wasn’t affected, things could change in the near future,” another official was quoted to have said.
Meanwhile, Attorney General of the federation, Abubakar Malami also sought to enforce the ban by threatening to prosecute anyone continues to use Twitter in Nigeria, as many use VPN to bypass the blockage.
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