More than 39 million Nigerians use twitter as a political platform to stay informed and updated and to voice their opinions including government discontent. Avid users also include Small and Medium Size Businesses (SMEs), which use social media -Twitter included- for activities ranging from marketing to attracting clients to reaching out to customers. On Saturday, they were all directly impacted as the Nigerian government twitter ban came into effect.
The government’s indefinite suspension order came the day after a post by Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, was deleted and his account blocked for 12 hours due to a violation of their “abusive behaviour” rule. The controversial tweet called on the 1960s devastating Civil War in Biafra, threatening secessionists in the southeast and was posted amidst increasing alarm from the federal government at the spiralling levels of violence in the region, where supposedly secessionist elements, reportedly members of the proscribed ‘Indigenous Peoples of Biafra’ (IPOB), have been conducting violent attacks on the security services, resulting in many deaths.
Additionally, the country is faced with raising criminal activities and clashes between herders and farmers in the south; insurgency, terrorism and radicalization by the Boko Haram & ISWAP in the Northeast – a government losing battle; and a widespread popular discontent with the government due to a deteriorating national economic situation with high inflation and worrying unemployment rates.
TWITTER IN NIGERIA
Twitter has been used widely in Nigeria as central in public discourse and as a platform to connect the population; for instance, in 2014 with the #bringbackourgirls hashtag as well as in anti-government protests such as the 2012 #occupyNigeria and in the 2020’s anti-police brutality protests with the hashtag #EndSARS. The ban is allegedly linked to the government’s plan to regulate social media which is only part of a bigger effort to stabilise security in the country.
More recently, after the events of #EndSARS protests which were facilitated by the use of social media platforms, the government seems to proactively undermine the possibility of future protests through the target of online expression under the rationale of fighting misinformation and fake news. The twitter ban was, in fact, justified due to the platform being used to undermine "Nigeria's corporate existence".
THE IMPACT
The use of social media blockage as a government tool to control misinformation and fake news, or as a crisis management tool amidst the country’s political, social and economic instability results in this case being highly ineffective. Easy circumvention through the use of VPNs damages its efficacy – the government itself announced the ban with a tweet, and citizens widely criticised the ban on twitter despite government threat of prosecution.
Moreover, the global disapproval backlash due to freedom of expression concerns can be counterproductive for social and political stability and economic development. According to watchdog Netblocks, a one-day twitter shutdown in Nigeria can cost an estimated $6million to the country. The economic impact may also be significant by sending the wrong message to future investors and by causing disruptions to businesses.
THE FUTURE
Although, the ban may suite the Federal Government for a while longer in light of the recently called mass protest for ‘Democracy Day’ on June, 12, there is a lack of legal basis to the ban, and rumours point to the government being already in talks with Twitter to reinstate the platform which has also only lost from this. Whether the ban was a retaliation against twitter due to the removal of the president’s tweet or intended to alienate an already disappointed population to curb instability, its efficiency remains under scrutiny.
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