Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, will immediately commence the process of licensing all social media operations in Nigeria.
The government’s action followed Twitter’s deletion of a ‘civil war’ post by the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari which the microblogging platform said violated its policies which prompted the federal government to ban its operations in Nigeria.
In a statement on Friday by the minister, he said the measure is with immediate effect.
However, Twitter is still up in Nigeria. The minister’s statement was also silent on the time that the ban would be enforced.
The Minister also said the Federal Government has directed the National Broadcasting Commission to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.
The Buhari-led federal government has in recent time sought stiffer penalties for persons who they claim misuse of these platforms.
The Senate is currently deliberating on Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill 2019 commonly known as the anti-social media bill. The bill seeks to criminalise the use of the social media in peddling false or malicious information. It was sponsored by Senator Mohammed Musa, a member of the President’s All Progressives Congress.
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