The suspension of the social media platform is ill-advised
The indefinite suspension of Twitter from the Nigerian internet space may not have come as a surprise. It is the culmination of a long period of the current administration’s discomfort with the social media and the culture of free expression which the media in general represents. Twitter’s deletion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s offensive post on the Nigerian civil war only offered an immediate window for the actualisation of a lingering policy option. That option has now been exercised and it is vastly unpopular and ill-advised in every way.
Despite being a beneficiary of social media campaigns in their first bid for power in 2015, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has never hidden its attempts to erect barriers on the path of social media. They started with the “frivolous petitions” bill which prescribed jail terms and $10,000 fine for “offensive” social media posts. It was only withdrawn after widespread public criticism. And last November, Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed told a National Assembly committee: “We must regulate social media in a manner that it does not become a purveyor of fake news and hate speech.”
Although the various social media platforms serve a universal purpose, they remain private entities with clear rules and style manuals. To that extent, they reserve the right to determine what content violates their peculiar corporate policies and regulations. On the matter of hate speech, the platforms are unanimous. Once a determination is made that there has been a breach, Twitter reserves the right to censor, exclude or delete the offending content. That is what has happened in the specific content in question. And the same rule has been applied to other leaders, including the former United States President, Donald Trump.
The Nigerian government has a right to decide on what actions of companies operating in its space constitute a breach of its national interests. But the national interest cannot, in a democracy, be reduced to the personal ego of the president or the collective discomfort of some regime chieftains. To this extent, the Twitter suspension violates and vitiates the wider interests of most Nigerians. It constrains the public space and the freedom of expression guaranteed citizens by the 1999 Constitution.
Twitter is a carrier of public, private and corporate exchanges. It is a business tool in the hands of Nigerians especially the youth who use the social media to power their startups and online enterprises. To sacrifice this vast gamut of vital communication to the private ego of the president is difficult to accept. More importantly, Twitter and the other social media platforms have become an active component of the triumph of freedom of expression and democracy in the world. They are carriers of a value system that has become universal. Therefore, an assault such as this suspension is an affront on democracy. The world will see it in no other way. Investors will become hesitant while diplomats will send out red alerts. We have marked our nation for all manner of subtle sanctions.
With this action, the Buhari administration has added Nigeria to the list of global antidemocratic nations. We have become a suspect nation. That is not where most Nigerians who voted for Buhari in 2015 and 2019 want to belong. Nor should Buhari strive so hard to join the ranks of leaders like Trump who abused democratic norms and the social media space and ended up in infamy.
The possibility that this suspension could further alienate the federal government from the Nigerian populace is obvious. In an atmosphere of severe insecurity and dire economic stress, it would be senseless to deliberately court another wave of protests. The sensible option is to roll back this suspension quickly. It is perhaps the government and its principal spokespersons that need to learn to comply with the rules of the media they need to publicise their policies and actions. Nigerians are today seeking ways to salvage their country from its present travails. The willful courting of dictatorship is not a route to national salvation and healing. It could lead to unplanned catastrophe.
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Twitter and the other social media platforms have become an active component of the triumph of freedom of expression and democracy in the world. They are carriers of a value system that has become universal
