In his opening remarks Mohammed spoke on what may become of the Federal Government’s agreement with Twitter following the change in ownership of the platform.
By Jeffrey Agbo
The Federal Government has said it is “closely monitoring” Twitter following its takeover by billionaire Elon Musk.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the third edition of the presentation of the Buhari administration’s scorecard.
In his opening remarks Mohammed spoke on what may become of the Federal Government’s agreement with Twitter following the change in ownership of the platform.
“Permit me to quickly address an issue that has elicited a lot of inquiries from the media in recent times.
“Many of your colleagues have called to ask us what will become of our agreement with Twitter in view of the change in its ownership.
“Many have asked for our reaction following reports that there has been a spike in fake news, disinformation and hate speech since the micro-blogging site changed ownership.
“Many have even asked us if another ban is in the offing. Let me say this: We are closely monitoring the evolving developments at Twitter.
“It has never been our intention to ban any social media platform or stifle free speech. Not at all.
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“But we will also not sit by and allow any platform whatsoever to throw our nation into crisis,” Mohammed said.
The minister recalled how the Federal Government in June last year suspended the activities of Twitter in the country for allegedly allowing its platform to be used by those who wanted to destabilise the country.
The suspension was, however, lifted in January this year following negotiations with the Federal Government.
“What happened in the case of Twitter is well known to all. Twitter became a platform of choice for those who want to destabilise Nigeria using fake news, disinformation and hate speech,” Mohammed stated.
“No nation will allow any social media platform to plunge it into anarchy. Definitely not Nigeria.
“But we have continued to engage positively with the different social media platforms, including Facebook, Google (owners of YouTube) and Twitter.
“We have no intention of banning any social media platform again.”
