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Nigeria has no intention to ban Twitter, others, but…, Minister speaks following Elon Musk’s takeover

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The Nigerian government is not contemplating a fresh ban on Twitter operations in the country following the recent takeover of the microblogging platform by erratic billionaire, Elon Musk.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who stated this on Thursday during a press conference in Abuja, said the Federal Government was monitoring the situation of things with the sweeping changes carried out by Musk since taking over, with the fears that it could be the return of fake news.

The platform was suspended by the Nigerian government last year due to what the Minister said was its “penchant to destabilise Nigeria via fake news, disinformation and hate speech.”

While addressing the press conference, Mohammed warned that though the government does not intend to ban any media for performing its duties, it would not hesitate to clampdown on any platform that is being used to destabilise the country or plunge the nation into anarchy.

“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.

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“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 destabilise 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.

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