The Federal Government said that social networking platform, Twitter might have to register as a company in Nigeria, pay taxes and put a handle on harmful content if it is going to operate in the country.
The FG in Nigeria had presented Twitter with 10 demands as conditions for lifting the suspension which lasted months.
According to Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed, the platform has agreed to seven of these demands. The minster did not say which demands Twitter agreed to, but he did say that an arrangement is likely.
- Taxing Technology Companies – Twitter, Google, Netflix, Amazon Could Be Subject To 30% Taxes In Nigeria – FIRS
- Withholding tax rates and application in Nigeria – FIRS
- Who can use Twitter “tip jar” and who is it available to
The minister had been in an interactive session with Reuters where he told them that Twitter ban in Nigeria was very effective as they saw less hateful and abusive content on social media.
The FG claimed that banning Twitter from operating in Nigeria was due to “threats of national security, pitching one ethnic group against the other, interfering recklessly in the internal affairs of the country.”
Twitter resumes in Nigeria
Twitter has rules against harmful tweets. Former United States President, Donald Trump had his Tweets deleted when he made claims about false election results.
Similarly, Twitter deleted President Buhari’s tweet that threatened the lives of citizens, after they marked it as harmful.
According to Lai Mohammed, the tweet was not correctly interpreted. The minister said “the claim that Twitter operation was suspended because it deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet was a mischievous interpretation not grounded in facts.”
Lai Mohammed further cited the End Sars protest as a medium that Twitter had exploited to enable conflict in the country. He said that it “lends its resources to protesters against the police without understanding the nuances of our culture.”
The End Sars protest by young Nigerians which claimed the lives of 100s of civilians and police officers was for the government to disband a rogue police unit SARS. The government disbanded the SARS unit but never met the demands of the youth.