Banning Twitter Was Hard Decision To Take — FG

The Federal Government has stated the decision to ban Twitter
was hard to take because it was a veritable platform for
information dissemination and business.

Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed stated this on
Thursday at a meeting of the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF)
with information managers of APC at the Federal and State
levels.

The meeting, which held at the Lagos House in Ikeja, was also an
avenue to identify challenges facing information managers and chart
better ways of pushing positive narratives about the
government.

Mohammed said: “It was a tough decision to take, considering
that many of our youths also use the platform for business.”

The Minister also said the government has uncovered about 476
online publications working to bring down the All Progressives
Congress (APC) led Federal Government

Mohammed spoke on ‘Mitigating contemporary challenges of
Information and Communication Management – Regulatory Issues and
Requirement’.

He identified poor funding, new digital media and lack of
synergy among information managers of government as some of the
challenges which should be overcome if the war against
misinformation would be won.

He said: “The social media is a double-edged sword, providing
opportunities and challenges, perhaps in equal measures. We
recently had to suspend the operations of twitter because of the
threat posed by the gross abuse of the platform to the nation’s
peace and unity.

“Twitter is the platform of choice for separatist campaigners,
especially those of them residing outside the country, who use it
to issue directives to their followers in Nigeria to attack our
security forces as well as to burn police stations and INEC
offices.

“It was a tough decision to take, considering that many of our
youths also use the platform for business. Such is the challenge
posed by the social media.

“At its request, the government has agreed to engage with
Twitter and, hopefully, we can both chart a path forward, without
compromising our national interest.

“While many have accused us of stifling the press with the ban,
we say Twitter is just one of many social media platforms being
used by Nigerians. WhatsApp, which is most used by Nigerians, is
there. And there is Facebook, Instagram, Google hangout, etc.”

The Federal Government has stated the decision to ban Twitter
was hard to take because it was a veritable platform for
information dissemination and business.

Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed stated this on
Thursday at a meeting of the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF)
with information managers of APC at the Federal and State
levels.

The meeting, which held at the Lagos House in Ikeja, was also an
avenue to identify challenges facing information managers and chart
better ways of pushing positive narratives about the
government.

Mohammed said: “It was a tough decision to take, considering
that many of our youths also use the platform for business.”

The Minister also said the government has uncovered about 476
online publications working to bring down the All Progressives
Congress (APC) led Federal Government

Mohammed spoke on ‘Mitigating contemporary challenges of
Information and Communication Management – Regulatory Issues and
Requirement’.

He identified poor funding, new digital media and lack of
synergy among information managers of government as some of the
challenges which should be overcome if the war against
misinformation would be won.

He said: “The social media is a double-edged sword, providing
opportunities and challenges, perhaps in equal measures. We
recently had to suspend the operations of twitter because of the
threat posed by the gross abuse of the platform to the nation’s
peace and unity.

“Twitter is the platform of choice for separatist campaigners,
especially those of them residing outside the country, who use it
to issue directives to their followers in Nigeria to attack our
security forces as well as to burn police stations and INEC
offices.

“It was a tough decision to take, considering that many of our
youths also use the platform for business. Such is the challenge
posed by the social media.

“At its request, the government has agreed to engage with
Twitter and, hopefully, we can both chart a path forward, without
compromising our national interest.

“While many have accused us of stifling the press with the ban,
we say Twitter is just one of many social media platforms being
used by Nigerians. WhatsApp, which is most used by Nigerians, is
there. And there is Facebook, Instagram, Google hangout, etc.”