Nigeria’s media operators have joined in the condemnation of the government’s ban on Twitter, and asked for it to be rescinded.
The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) urged the government to reconsider the ban, and take immediate steps to lift the suspension, which it said is overkill.
The NGE’s position was expressed in a statement issued by Mustapha Isah (President) and Iyobosa Uwugiaren (General Secretary), in which it said the government’s action had implicit consequences for the Nigerian society.
It said the ban posed a hindrance to free speech and has the possibility of jeopardising the economic interests of many Nigerians who depend on the social media platform for vital information to make informed business decisions daily.
The guild asked the government not to take action that could make the outside world view Nigeria as being ruled by a dictator. It noted also that the action constituted an infringement on Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution and violates the right of Nigerians to interact freely on this platform.
The Guild also warned that the ban breached Nigeria’s international obligations under Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
It argued that the ban was an overreaction to Twitter’s decision to delete President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet early this week.
‘’If the Federal Government finds Twitter’s action against the President objectionable, Nigerians should not be made to suffer the collateral damage of denying them their right to free discourse on Twitter,” it said. added.
According to the Guild, the “ban at the weekend, of Twitter’s operation in Nigeria, is an overkill that gives wind to the sail of critics who daily accuse the Buhari administration of intolerance of opposing views.
“The Federal Government has the responsibility to safeguard the unity, peace, and stability of Nigeria and any person or group that threatens this must draw its ire. In expressing its anger, government, however, ought to exercise restraints to avoid giving the impression that it is intolerant of opposing views and expression of opinions by individuals and corporate citizens’’, the Guild stated.
The NGE also asked social media businesses that provide micro-messaging services, to take note of the activities of those who want to use their platforms to cause divisions and spread hatred in the country and the global community as well.
“The Guild is aware of the democratizing influence of social media platforms, including Twitter, in helping to check to promote democracy worldwide.
“Twitter also builds a market research prospect for businesses to see what customers are chit-chatting about, their feeling and what is important to them about products and services.’’
“The Guild, therefore, calls on the Federal Government to immediately rescind its decision in order not to deny millions of Nigerians the right to express their views and the economic those who rely on Twitter to provide services and earn a living,” it concluded.
On its part, the NPAN also on Saturday condemned the ban and asked the rescind the decision, saying it was repressive.
NPAN spoke through a statement signed by its President, Kabiru A. Yusuf.
Below is Association’s statement:
“Nigeria yesterday suspended, indefinitely, the operation of the popular social media platform Twitter, for deleting the warning of President Muhammadu Buhari to the insurrectionists in southeast Nigeria who have been vandalizing the symbols of the authority of the state. These lawless ones have been committing arson against public assets like police stations, prisons and the courts; freeing prisoners from lawful custody, killing policemen and soldiers as well as harmless civilians. It is a state of fear in the South East of Nigeria as in almost all over the country where terrorists, Kidnappers, farmer/herder clashes have almost crippled Nigeria.
“It is to those persons that President Buhari warned that they may be ignorant of the cost of violence and may attract severe sanctions, reminiscent of the 30-month Nigerian civil war, if they persist in unrestrained violence and challenge the authority of the state.
“It is that threat of maximum state reprisal that Twitter found objectionable, according to its stated policy and sanctioned President Buhari with a deletion. This is not the first time Twitter would sanction world leaders for infractions against its stated policy. It did so to President Donald Trump of the United States of America, to global aplomb when Trump instigated violence against the Capitol.
“Nigeria has retaliated with the cudgel against Twitter for an alleged double standard in a hasty sanctioning of Buhari while pampering an unrestrained Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Kanu has used the same Twitter not just for serial hate speeches but for actually provoking and justifying violence in his separatist agitations.
“To the extent that Twitter may have been hasty in sanctioning President Buhari and shown an uneven application of its rules against separatist Kanu, its sincerity stands questioned. It should correct itself.
“However, The Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), thinks that the suspension of Twitter's operation by Nigerians is wrong and an overreaction.
“The action would not win us, friends, as the closure of public space limits public discourse and democratic advancement," it said.
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