The federal government says Twitter, popular micro-blogging platform, has given it access to censor online contents it said will be prohibited.
This is contained in a statement by Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the Chairman Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement, Wednesday evening.
Listing out the gains the 222 days ban garnered, Mr Abdullahi said Twitter has agreed to register as an entity and pay taxes in the country while complying with Nigerian laws.
He also said the social networking giant has agreed to create two channels – Partner Support Portal (PSP) and Law Enforcement Portal (LEP) – through which its staff and government officials will censor online contents it described as ‘prohibited’ without expressly stating types of contents that falls into such category.
“Twitter has agreed to enrol Nigeria in its Partner Support and Law Enforcement Portals,” part of the statement reads. “The Partner Support Portal provides a direct channel for government officials and Twitter staff to manage prohibited content that violates Twitter community rules.
“At the same time, the Law Enforcement Portal provides a channel for the law enforcement agencies to submit a report with a legal justification where it suspects that content violates Nigerian Laws. Taken together, these represent a comprehensive compliance apparatus.”
President Muhammadu Buhari has however directed that the ban on Twitter be lifted after about 222 days.
Mr Buhari had ordered the ban June last year days after his tweet deemed genocidal against the people of the South-East geo-political zone was deleted.
Mr Buhari gave the order after reviewing a memo to that effect from the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.
The was made known in a statement released by the Chairman Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement and Director-General National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) directs me to inform the public that President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has approved the lifting of the suspension of Twitter operation in Nigeria effective from 12am tonight, 13th January 2022,” Mr Abdullahi said.
“The approval was given following a memo written to the President by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim.
“In the Memo, the Minister updated and requested the President’s approval for the lifting based on the Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement’s recommendation.”
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