The federal government confirmed on Tuesday that Twitter had officially written to seek dialogue on issues leading to the indefinite suspension of its operations in the country.
Information and Culture Minister Alhaji Lai Mohammed confirmed this when he appeared on “Politics Nationwide”, a Radio Nigeria appeal program monitored by the Nigeria News Agency (NAN) in Abuja.
“I can confirm that Twitter has written to the federal government that it is ready to speak.
“As we have always maintained, the door is not locked and we are open-minded but Twitter needs to work on it,” he said.
The minister reiterated the government’s position that it will not tolerate any platform that is used to destabilize the country.
Mohammed said that among other conditions for Twitter to resume operations in Nigeria, there must be an agreement on what content it could post.
He said Twitter and other platforms must also register as a Nigerian company, obtain a license from the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and be guided by the licensing rules as well as pay taxes.
Regulating social media platforms is becoming a global practice, according to the minister.
He said most countries were just starting to realize that the platforms were getting more powerful than even the government and needed to be regulated.
“Singapore, Algeria, Pakistan, Turkey regulate social networks, Australia has done it.
“Even the EU which does not have specific social media laws made recommendations in a white paper,” he said.
The minister said the UK has launched a new law that would fine social media companies up to £ 18million (around N10.8 billion) if they fail to root out the abuse online.
He said Google was fined € 220million (roughly Naira 110 billion) on June 7 by the French competition regulator for abusing its dominant position in the online advertising market. France.
Likewise, the minister said Pakistan’s Federal Cabinet has approved a new set of rules to regulate social media.
In the rules, according to the minister, companies such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and even TikTok were to register and open offices in Pakistan.
He said that according to Turkey’s new online streaming rule, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have obtained licenses from that country’s broadcasting authority.
Mohammed noted that regulating social media was not synonymous with stifling press freedom.
“We must not confuse freedom of the press and irresponsibility.
“How can you stay in your country and allow your own platform to be used to spread war to another country?”
“The suspension of Twitter is intended to ensure that no particular platform is used to provoke war in Nigeria.
“Second, to make sure that whoever makes money in Nigeria should be forced to pay taxes.
“Our appeal to Nigerians is that they need to understand where we are from.
“We have no intention of stifling people’s freedom or cutting off anyone’s source of livelihood.
“There has to be a country without war before we can talk about freedom and a source of life,” he said.
NAN reports that the federal government indefinitely suspended operations of the microblogging and social networking service in Nigeria on June 4.
Mohammed, who announced the suspension, cited the continued use of the platform for activities that could undermine the existence of the Nigerian company.
He said the federal government has also asked NBC to immediately start the licensing process for all Over the Top (OTT) and social media operations in the country.
NAN reports that the OTT multimedia service is offered directly to viewers via the Internet. (NAN)
