Nigeria’s government is “closely monitoring” Twitter following its takeover by billionaire Elon Musk, the state-owned News Agency of Nigeria reports.
It quotes Information Minister Lai Mohammed as saying the government will not allow any social media platform to plunge the country into crisis.
In January, Twitter agreed to demands to register in Nigeria and pay local taxes in order to end a seven-month ban after the government had accused it of siding with secessionists.
The minister on Thursday raised concerns about “what will become of our agreement with Twitter in view of the change in its ownership”.
He is quoted as saying:
“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. But we will also not sit by and allow any platform whatsoever to throw our nation into crisis.”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. But we will also not sit by and allow any platform whatsoever to throw our nation into crisis.”
The news agency adds that the minister said he and the government were engaging positively with the different social media platforms, including Facebook, Google (which owns YouTube) and Twitter.
Source: BBC
