The Federal Government has revealed that it has no intention to place ban on any social media platform in Nigeria again.
Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information, made this revelation at a news conference at the nation’s capital, Abuja on Thursday.
The Minister sand the federal government will not allow anyone make use of any platform whatsoever to cause crisis in Nigeria.
The government said that it will not stop monitoring the developments on the social media platform, Twitter, after its ownership was transferred to a new owner.
The Minister added that the social media platform was suspended last year due to the readiness of some persons to make use of the platform to cause chaos and unrest in the country using untrue news, hate speech and disinformation.
Mohammed has sent message of warning that the federal government has no intention to place ban on any social media platform from carrying out its duties, but it would also not give room for any attempt to use the platform to cause crisis and anarchy in the country.
Mohammed said, ” Many have called to ask us what will become of our agreement with Twitter in view of the change in its ownership. Many have asked for our reaction following reports that there has been a spike in fake news, disinformation and hate speech since the micro-blogging site changed ownership. Many have even asked us if another ban is in the offing?
“Let me say this: 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. What happened in the case of Twitter is well known to all. Twitter became a platform of choice for those who want to destabilize Nigeria, using fake news, disinformation and hate speech.
“No nation will allow any social media platform to plunge it into anarchy. Definitely not Nigeria. But we have continued to engage positively with the different social media
platforms, including Facebook, Google (owners of YouTube) and Twitter.
“We have no intention of banning any social media platform again. But we will also not sit by and allow any platform whatsoever to throw our nation into crisis,” the minister said.