Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed said Thursday that the government is closely monitoring recent fake news and disinformation about the western African country on Twitter, warning no social media platform will be allowed to plunge the country into crisis.
Speaking at a press conference in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, Mohammed said the government has no plans to ban any social media platform or stop people from speaking their minds, but warned that there had been a lot more fake news and false information about Nigeria recently.
The minister did not give further details about the fake news and false information, but said “we will also not sit by and allow any platform whatsoever to throw our nation into crisis.”
He said the federal government suspended the activities of Twitter in the country in June 2021 for allegedly allowing its platform to be used by those who wanted to destabilize the country.
The ban was lifted in January of this year after Twitter agreed to, among other things, regulate its posts, pay any taxes that were due, and set up a legal entity in the country. ■