Suspension: Twitter Has Reached Out To Seek High-level Discussion With FG – Minister

The Federal Government on Wednesday disclosed that Twitter management has reached out to seek high-level discussion to resolve the issue that led to the suspension of its activities in Nigeria.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made the disclosure to State House Correspondents after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), at the presidential villa, Abuja, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to him, the management of the microblogging platform reached out on Wednesday morning.

Mohammed reiterated that Twitter was suspended because it provided an avenue for those that are threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria.

According to him, the owner of Twitter helped to fund the recent #EndSARS protest while allowing the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to use the platform to call for the killing of policemen.

The minister said Twitter failed to take down Kanu’s tweets despite repeated requests to do so.

Mohammed listed conditions that must be met even if there is a discussion with Twitter including that it must now be registered in Nigeria as a business concern.

Apart from Twitter, he said other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram must be registered in the country.

Mohammed insisted that freedom of speech has not been stifled by the suspension of Twitter as he maintained that Nigerians can still use other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

He also denied that the suspension is not effective arguing that that Twitter is losing money as a result of the action.