…meet Foreign Affairs Minister, Onyeama
Ambassadors of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, the Republic of Ireland and the European Union in Nigeria, on Monday, insisted that the suspension of Twitter in the country violates freedom of expression.
The envoys stated this at a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, in Abuja.
Onyeama had invited the ambassadors to the meeting following their recent comments on the Nigerian government suspension of Twitter operations in the country.
Canada, EU, UK, US, and the Republic of Ireland had on Saturday issued a joint statement kicking against the FG’s action, saying banning systems of expression was not the right step to take.
Their statement read in part, “The diplomatic missions of Canada, the European Union (Delegation to Nigeria), the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America convey our disappointment over the Government of Nigeria’s announcement suspending #Twitter and proposing registration requirements for other social media.
“We strongly support the fundamental human right of free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria as around the world and these rights apply online as well as offline.
“Banning systems of expression is not the answer. These measures inhibit access to information and commerce at precisely the moment when Nigeria needs to foster inclusive dialogue and expression of opinions, as well as share vital information in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
On Monday, while speaking on behalf of the five envoys during a closed-door meeting with Onyeama in Abuja, US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, restated the earlier position of the five ambassadors that the ban on Twitter by the Nigerian government constitutes a violation of the freedom of expression of Nigerians, regardless of the concerns by the government that the platform was being used to perpetrate hate speech and criminality.
According to her, “We recognise the official position of the Nigerian government on the responsible use of social media but we remain firm in our position that free access to information is very important and perhaps more important during troubled times.
“We are here as partners and we want to see Nigeria succeed. It’s very clear that we are Nigeria’s strongest partners on issues of security and we recognise the daunting times in the way of the security challenges that confront Nigeria. While they are daunting, they are not insurmountable and part of the way to surmount them is the partnership of the people you see represented here.”
The envoys also expressed optimism that the Nigerian government would reach a common ground in its discussions with Twitter.
Onyeama also confirmed that the Federal Government was in dialogue with Twitter on how to resolve the dispute.
He told the envoys that the Nigerian government was not against the use of social media but only interested in its use for global good and responsible communications.
The Minister said, “We know the power of words and when you have that kind of power to manage and facilitate communication to billion of people; it has to come with responsibility. So, we are taking this measure to see to what extent we can rebalance this media as forces of good and stop them being used as a platform for destabilization and facilitation of criminality.”
Recall that Twitter had deleted a controversial civil war post by President Muhammadu Buhari. In retaliation, the Federal Government banned the platform, citing the “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.
Though mobile operators have blocked their customers in the country from using Twitter, many Nigerians have switched to the use of Virtual Private Networks to bypass the blockage.
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, had also ordered the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation to prosecute anyone still found to be using Twitter in Nigeria.
Nigeria, with over 200 million people, had about 33 million active social media users as of January 2021. WhatsApp is the most popular platform used in the country, with over 90 million users, according to Statista.
Also, according to Statista, about 61.4 per cent of Nigerian social media users use Twitter, 86.2 per cent use Facebook, 81.6 per cent use YouTube, 73.1 per cent use Instagram, and 67.2 per cent use Facebook Messenger.