On the 5th of June 2021, the Nigerian Government banned the use of social networking giant, Twitter. The general assumption is that it was because the Nigerian President issued a statement that was seen to be flouting Community Guidelines and was taken down. There is also the belief that the engagements and emoji on Twitter during the #EndSARS protests against police brutality also played a part. The Nigerian Government has claimed that the platform was being used to incite hate speech and spread fake news and consequently was a challenge to National Security. The legality of the ban is being challenged in court.

As at midnight of today the 13th of January, the government lifted the ban claiming that Twitter had agreed to all its conditions. The sentiment on social media is that the ban has been lifted to allow for political campaigning and strategy, because Twitter is important in the public conversation in Nigeria.

Before I delve into a few technical specifics based on my experience, I will share some of my own thoughts.

I think the ban was unfair, illegal, and an abuse of power. Nothing in our current laws supports it. The legal justification used was at best a creative stretching of unrelated laws.

I also believe totally that the government has always had access to the right team at the organization to report perceived violations. If they had complaints, they could have easily made them known instead of a blanket ban.

Now that the ban has been lifted, here are a few assumptions I have made, based on experience.

  • Twitter will not give anyone access to a backend to delete tweets. They will probably provide a robust framework by which the government may report tweets which it finds concerning. The decision to delete any tweet will still rest with twitter after a review. I will assume that this review will also include some nuance and an understanding of Nigerian laws. I however think that international best practices will be followed.
  • Twitter will probably like Facebook also now charge 7.5% VAT on advert campaigns and this will be remitted to the Federal Government. This is a form of tax. In order to do this, the organization will need to register a legal entity in Nigeria to remit this tax.

Now that the platform has been restored, here are a few things that have been put in place to protect your experience.

  • The platform has a new feature that will notify you if a tweet you are about to send can be potentially problematic.  I have always personally believed that more than 90% of all abuse is reviewed by an algorithm based on keywords. With this feature, the platform appears to be getting proactive by providing a layer of warning before the tweet even gets sent out. If this feature was available early last year, maybe it would have warned about the potential harm that the tweet that started this all had caused.
  • Twitter also allows you to choose who can respond to your tweets. This way, you can tweet in peace without worrying about potential abuse that is common in Nigeria.
  • The platform also allows you to report tweets that you see for potential violations. Instead of responding to abuse, report it.
  • Lastly the platform has had the option to block and mute people for a long time now. Personally, I block people that I would rather not interact with, and I mute people who I may not be able to block but who share things I would rather not see at all.

There is no law against using these tools, and if they will help make your experience on the platform better, then by all means, use them.

In conclusion, no matter what sentiments we may feel against those who created the ban and those who encouraged it, the platform is for everybody. Please do not reciprocate the poor judgement and abusive behavior being demonstrated by a small group of people in the name of politics. If they come at you, do not engage report them or block them.

You’re entitled to be safe on twitter, but you’re also responsible for making sure your own tweets are not potentially harmful to others. For clarity, please acquaint yourself with the platform’s community guidelines. Every social media platform has them, please study them carefully.

Also manage your security and activate two factor authentication on your account. I share more about that here

All the best with your tweeting.

The force be with you!