''The temporary suspension of Twitter is not just a response to the removal of the President’s post. There has been a litany of problems with the social media platform in Nigeria, where misinformation and fake news spread through it have had real world violent consequences. All the while, the company has escaped accountability......''.
PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENT ON TWITTER SUSPENSION IN NIGERIA
The temporary suspension of Twitter is not just a response to the removal of the President’s post. There has been a litany of problems with the social media platform in Nigeria, where misinformation and fake news spread through it have had real world violent consequences. All the while, the company has escaped accountability.
Nevertheless, the removal of President Buhari’s tweet was disappointing. The censoring seemed based on a misunderstanding of the challenges Nigeria faces today.
The President in his address at the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA in 2019 said "the world was shocked and startled by the massacre in New Zealand by a lone gunman taking the lives of 50 worshippers."
This and similar crimes which have been fueled by social media networks risk seeping into the fabric of an emerging digital culture.
Major tech companies must be alive to their responsibilities. They cannot be allowed to continue to facilitate the spread of religious, racist, xenophobic and false messages capable of inciting whole communities against each other, leading to loss of many lives. This could tear some countries apart.
President Buhari has therefore been warning against social media's disruptive and divisive influences and the government’s action is not a knee-jerk reaction to Twitter’s preposterous deletion of his tweet which should have been read in full.
The tweet was not a threat, but a statement of fact.
A terrorist organisation (IPOB) poses a significant threat to the safety and security of Nigerian citizens.
When the President said that they will be treated “in a language they understand,” he merely reiterated that their force shall be met with force. It is a basic principle of security services response world over.
This is not promotion of hate, but a pledge to uphold citizens’ right to freedom from harm. The government cannot be expected to capitulate to terrorists.
IPOB is proscribed under Nigerian law. Its members murder innocent Nigerians. They kill policemen and set government property on fire. Now, they have amassed a substantial stockpile of weapons and bombs across the country.
Twitter does not seem to appreciate the national trauma of our country's civil war. This government shall not allow a recurrence of that tragedy.
Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
June 5, 2021
Stupid upon stupid
ReplyDeleteYeye response .
DeleteSMH!
ReplyDeleteLori iro
ReplyDeleteMr President,
ReplyDelete"In 2015, when you emerged as president, considering your age, experiences & acclaimed principles, i hoped that you would for once show that "A GOOD LEADER" can emerge in Nigeria. But nope, you started off by telling us that those who gave you 97% of votes would be treated like Nigerians while those who gave you 5% votes will be treated like refugees.
You backed up this statement by being the most tribalistic & nepotic leader the world has ever known. For the first time in Nigeria, a security Council meeting will be called without a single Representation from a whole geo-political zone.
Your herder-kinsmen became more emboldened to attack people's farms, run farmers out of their farms, Rape women, sack communities & carry all sorts of sophisticated weapons, you maintained a deafening silence.
Our borders, which is supposed to be guarded like the border of a sovereign country became porous because Nigeria has become home to people of your tribe all over the world. They come in and become a menace to the society, they kidnap school children, they slaughter defenceless Nigerians and commit all sorts of atrocities. Yet it has been difficult for the full resources of our armed forces to be deployed against them. Rather, this government is rather ready to give them amnesty.
Insurgents sack not just communities but an entire Local Government Area and raise up their flags as they fight to establish a caliphate yet you never visited them with "the language they understand ". Why are you always ready to send your armed forces against the Southeasters?
At your age, you should be inspiring National unity and reconciliation. Haven't this country been through enough violence yet?
You didn't suspend twitter because of the reasons given above, you suspended twitter because your tweet was deleted for going against their guidelines. Otherwise why did you not invoke your suspension powers all the while you knew they were being used to peddle false informations & promote violence?
After the last US election, Twitter not only deleted President Trump's tweets but banned him completely. Both twitter and Facebook shut him out of social media. He never suspended twitter in his country. Mr President I see no 21st century Leader in You, I see only a backward, non-progressive, archaic Ruler(not leader) now dressed in a Democratic apparel. But the hood does not make the monk.
Just know, that you will go down in history as the worst leader Nigeria has ever produced. Except you use your remaining 2 years to toe the line of Nelson Madiba Mandela, build bridges, sow love, inspire peace, sincerely preach unity & togetherness, treat all Nigerians equally, involve all tribes & ethnic nationalities in your kitchen cabinet, heal those who are agitated, become a father & a true leader, help the Igbos to bury the memory of 1967 & devote your energy to making all Nigerians feel equally loved & treated.
Lastly, the Nigeria handed over to us by the British has refused to work. The 1999 Constitution even made it worse. Under your leadership, let us restructure this nation in a way that is workable given our local circumstances & understanding. Only then will Nigeria truly grow."
Hon Chima Obieze
No truer words!!
DeleteNo truer words!!
DeleteLouder please
Delete1. Buhari doesnt know what is called twitter.
Delete2. His media aides and clowns are running the show.
3. I feel Abba Kyari would have done a better job.
How about when he said if he didn't win election, it will be bloody.
DeleteIPOB is a terrorist organization but Boko Haram members are bandits. Our present government is today's Aithopel(sorry I didn't get the spelling) and they shall end like him.
ReplyDeleteThis government can't even tell a good lie?
ReplyDelete😏😏😏😏
there was indeed a country
ReplyDeleteYinmu
ReplyDeleteBoko haram, criminal Fulani herdsmen, kidnappers should also be proscribed and declared terrorist organisation. Government please do the needful.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, 4/5 years old kidnapped in Niger state, no word yet from the government, but you are bothered about a message that was deleted by twitter. Tinubu, see your life...
Extremely lame...and out of point😒🙄😑😴😪😕😒
ReplyDeleteWho ever made the statement is dumb and stupid.
ReplyDeleteNo one have said something about Boko Haram and banditry in the north but are quick to attack people in the south. Deal with Boko Haram and banditry in the north with the force you preach and then we can talk about the south.