FG accuses Twitter of promoting instability, act of terrorism

The Federal Government, on Tuesday, said its decision to suspend the operations of the microblogging site, Twitter, in Nigeria was because of its promotion of instability, acts of terrorism in the country, and for providing a platform for separatist groups.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this during the public hearing held at the instance of the joint Committees on Communication, Justice and Information; National Orientation, Ethics & Values and National Security & Intelligence, during which he accused the Nigerian Union of Journalists and Guild of Editors of frustrating the present administration’s plan to fight fake news.

He said the decision of the government was supported by the position of section 45 of the 1999 constitution, the Company and Allied Matters Act and also the Anti-Terrorism Act, among others.

The minister lamented that the last nationwide protest staged by the EndSARS protesters led to the death of 57 civilians, 37 policemen, 6 soldiers, and the destruction of 243 public property and 200 brand new buses belonging to the Lagos State Government.

He argued that Twitter also provided IPOB, an organisation that was banned by a Court in Nigeria the platform to spread hate news and ordering the killing of soldiers, policemen and burning public institutions.

On the issue of personal liberty, he maintained that personal liberty can always be suspended when the rights of others are at stake.

“It is true that on the 4th of June, the Federal Government suspended the operations of Twitter indefinitely in Nigeria and the reasons we gave for this suspension was because Twitter has made its platform a platform of choice for people who are promoting activities to destabilise Nigeria. Despite persistent calls on Twitter, they refused and made their platform available for separatist groups and people calling for the dismemberment of Nigeria.

“We also said that henceforth, all OTT (Over The Top) and all other social media platforms must register first as Nigerian companies and be licensed by the Broadcasting Commission before they can carry on any business as a social media platform. This was informed by the fact that we recognized that most of the OTT social media platforms operating in Nigeria today are not registered in Nigeria, they make billions of naira from our country; they pay no taxes and employ nobody. That is why we said we are going to suspend Twitter and that all other social media platforms that are not registered in Nigeria must register.

“It is true that many Nigerians have accused the Federal Government of an attempt to stifle the media and free speech and we say not at all. There is absolutely no attempt on the part of the government to stifle free speech and the media. Why it is true that section 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41 of the constitution actually provide for freedom of speech, it is actually qualified by section 45 of the same Constitution which is to the effect that nothing in these sections shall invalidate any law that is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society in the interest of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health or for the purpose of protecting the rights and freedom of other people.

“The only reason why we suspended the operation of Twitter was because it was promoting disunity in Nigeria and therefore became a national security risk. The provisions of section 45 of the constitution leave no one in doubt that the provisions of section 39 of the Constitution on freedom of expression are not absolute. The right of freedom of expression within the contemplation of section 39 makes it a qualified right in line with section 45 which permits restriction of civil liberty in the public interest.

“If you look at section 3 of the National Security Act which cloth the State Security Service with the powers to preserve the internal security of Nigerians, it is very instructive that any platform that threatens the internal security of Nigeria will not be allowed to operate.

“The section states that the State Security Service shall be charged with the responsibility for prevention and detection within Nigeria of any crime against the internal security of Nigeria; the protection and preservation of all classified matters concerning the internal security of Nigeria; and such other responsibilities affecting internal security within Nigeria s the National Assembly or the President as the case may be may deem necessary.

“This is a case where the Federal Government deemed it necessary that the activities of Twitter in Nigeria, in particular, is inimical to stability in the country. May I remind you that during the unfortunate EndSARS protest, the same Twitter played a very unsavoury role by making available its platform to re-tweet the messages of the EndSARS protesters and also raised funds for the EndSARS protesters before it was hijacked by hoodlums?

“This particular EndSARS protest led to the death of 57 civilians, 37 policemen, 6 soldiers, we had about 243 public property destroyed, 200 brand new buses belong to the Lagos state government were burnt and 83 warehouses were vandalized. We have a course to believe that the mission of twitter in Nigeria was suspect.

“The right to freedom of expression on the Twitter platform is further qualified by section 45 of the constitution in light to the provisions of section 5 (1) and (2) of the Terrorism Act 2011 which states that any person who knowingly, in any manner directly or indirectly solicits or render support or the commission of an act of terrorism or to a terrorist group commits an offence under this act.

“We all know that IPOB is proscribed by a High Court in Nigeria and yet, Twitter is the platform of choice through which IPOB direct its people to kill soldiers, kill policemen and burn public institutions. So, it is clear that Twitter operations in Nigeria is inimical to our growth, both in common law and national security and so, we had to suspend their operations.

“Even the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act also support our suspension of Twitter operation in Nigeria. The primary law governing businesses in Nigeria is the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020. With regards to the operation of a foreign company in Nigeria, the law provides that a foreign company which fails to take necessary steps to obtain incorporation as a separate entity in Nigeria; until so incorporated, the foreign company shall not carry on business in Nigeria or exercise any power of a registered company. That is section 78(1).

“Flowing from the above, a foreign company like Twitter cannot be given the legitimate right to operate as a company registered in Nigeria as they are not licensed to so do.

“We talk about personal liberty. Personal liberty can be suspended when the rights of the majority is at stake. Here, we are talking about the rights and security of the whole of Nigeria. That is why we suspended Twitter. So, both in law and common sense, I believe that we are within the law to suspend Twitter. Our position is also backed by the Cyberspace Act.

“I will draw the attention of members to article 24, 25 and 26 of African Union on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection; Article 19 (2 and 3) of the international convention on civil and political rights and sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Cyber Crime Prohibition Act. This empowers the Federal Government to regulate the security of the Nigeria Cyber Space including, but not limited to the cyber environment and organization and user access which include connected computer devices, personnel, infrastructure, applications, services and the totality of the transmitted information within the Nigeria cyberspace environment, including social media such as Twitter, Facebook, etc.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria is empowered to take all necessary measures, give all necessary orders, designate any computer system, network application as forming part of our national infrastructure and take all necessary steps, including suspension of Twitter or any other social media handle to protect Nigeria’s critical infrastructure from a cyber-threat or attack.

“The Federal Government is also empowered to take all reasonable steps to protect the cyberspace when it perceived that cybercrime is threatening to be committed, has been committed or is being committed through its cyberspace. For example, where a seditious act has been committed against the Federal Government through cyberspace in accordance with section 512 of the criminal code which punishes the crime of sedition. So, the decision of the Federal Government to suspend the activities of Twitter for being a national security threat is well-founded in law and the fact that the platform affords IPOB, an organisation already proscribed by the Federal High Court to champion terrorist activities.”

One of the lawmakers who expressed displeasure over the development, Hon Shaba Ibrahim (PDP-Kogi), said: “I am of the strong view that anything pales into insignificance when national interest and security is at stake. I agree. You have done a very beautiful rendition of the legal framework that seems to support the steps you have taken. Beautiful as it is. I just wonder if, in the consideration of that ban, you took into cognisance the coincidence of Mr President’s tweet and Twitter’s action and the impression it created on the minds of millions of Nigerians and indeed the entire world.

“I say this because sometimes there is what you call claim of right made in bad faith. You may well have a legal platform upon which to anchor that action, but the circumstance is with all due respect suspect. That is why you have everybody alluding to the action taken against Trump.

“If you have been proactive, with due respect, you wouldn’t have allowed all these infractions to go unchecked until the President’s tweet was taken down. I think with all due respect, that was a disservice to us.

“We are at the mercy of people who handle social media irresponsibly. All it took to wake to that responsibility was for Twitter to bring down Mr President’s tweet. With all due respect sir, I don’t think that was good enough. I agree that no right is in absolute terms. But again, we must mind the timing of it, so that proactive actions are taken to nip these things in the bud. Because what you have done whether you like it or not looks like symptoms of emerging totalitarianism. And that is why everyone is shouting blue murder.”

While responding to questions on the rationale behind the suspension of Twitter, the minister argued that Federal Government “did not suspend the activities of Twitter because they deleted Mr President’s tweet. Not at all! We are very unambiguous about why we suspended Twitter. Have we taken into consideration Nigerians doing business on Twitter? The answer is yes. One, it is because there is a country called Nigeria that people can do business on any platform. And this is very fundamental. Two, there are other platforms – Facebook, Google Hangout, WhatsApp – for people to use. But in a matter of national security, individual interests will lag behind.

“We have been asked: what is the Federal Government doing? Incidentally, the Twitter suspension is indefinite; it is not banned. The doors are not closed. We are willing to speak to Twitter. Twitter has written a letter seeking government dialogue and just today, I did issue a statement, which I announced the government’s team that is ready to meet Twitter.

“When I leave here, I intend to see whether we can have a preliminary meeting of that committee. We hope that the committee will be able to meet first and that the Committee would have a good dialogue with Twitter. But as we said, there are two basic things that Twitter or any OTT or social media needs to do: they must first be registered as a Nigerian company after which they will apply for a license. Other conditions will come up as we go along.

“I’m asked why I waited for Mr President’s tweet to be deleted before the suspension, even though I knew all along that IPOB has been using the Twitter platform. I think our efforts to rid Nigeria of fake news, disinformation started in 2017. When we organised a National Council on Information in Jos, Plateau State, to address the issue of fake news and disinformation, there we said that the next war would be caused by fake news. How prophetic we were!

“In 2018, we started an advocacy programme whereby we went from one media house to the other, seeking their support in weeding out fake news. Some supported us, some did not. When we were convinced that they were not going to listen, we said that we were going to regulate social media. We wrote to the NUJ; we wrote to the Guild of Editors. They snubbed us. As for Twitter, there are two issues about Twitter. One Twitter is not registered in Nigeria, so who do we talk to?

“But despite that, I know and it is on record that the social media department of government actually several times asked Twitter to bring down a lot of tweets, which they refused and said they did not offend their rules. One thing must be clear: who is Twitter? Are they a platform, content creator or judge?

“We are talking about a sovereign country. Nigeria will not be ruled by the laws of a multinational, no matter how powerful it is. So, for us, why did we act now? There is no time that we would have taken the decision that we would not have the kind of reactions that we are having now. No time! It has come to a stage, after a persistent appeal to Twitter, and we saw how policemen were being killed; how soldiers were being targeted; how secessionists were using Twitter, that is why we said enough is enough.

“As I have said, we owe no responsibility to Twitter. It is not registered in Nigeria. It does not employ Nigerians. It does not pay taxes to Nigeria. If Nigerians do make money through Twitter, unfortunately, Nigeria has to be a country first before they can make that money. As I said, there are other platforms available to them. Hopefully, if we are able to resolve this matter quickly, they will resume use of Twitter.”

While expressing support for Federal Government’s position, Hon Fatuhu Muhammad (APC-Katsina) said: “The media is at war. We can see what’s happening on social media. I’ve worked in NCC, this is my boss for 14 years. I know what his department in cybercrime is doing. We should please, please regulate the media. If that tweet was not brought down, the dirty things that will happen in Nigeria will be less than what we are seen now because if the Minister did not ban Twitter by the instruction of the President, the kind of insult the sovereignty of Nigeria we have from the users of the tweet will be more dangerous than what we are facing now. Let’s tell ourselves the truth, Nigeria first.

“Sometimes when I’m reading tweets, I’m disappointed with the youths. We are the future of Nigeria. Look I went to Unity School, Federal Government College, Kwali; people from South, East are coming, we are shouting they are coming with their buses but that thing is missing. Why, why are we bringing issues trying to cause confusion where there’s no confusion? It’s just interest for God’s sake. What is social media? Are we eating social media? Let’s go back to the sources and harvest it, my brother and let’s keep this thing aside and face the real problem we are facing in Nigeria.”

However, in his remarks, Hon Chinedu Ogar (PDP-Imo) blamed various regulatory agencies for failing in their statutory functions as provided by the establishment Act.

“You know too well that all these social media exist in the country what efforts have you put in place in regulating those Agencies in order to enable the unemployed youths to get jobs through those agencies? Because if certain things are put in place if you have a checkmate on all these social media than when these things get out of hand.

“What’s the NBC doing in the law as empowered to checkmate all these agencies. If all those laws are not implemented before they exist then we would have known what to do. For example in China, before you get into China you are sure the social media is being regulated and such a thing is not in Nigeria. And we have all those agencies that are capable to regulate it. What efforts do you put in place because if all those efforts are put in place, what we are seeing wouldn’t have happened?”

Speaking earlier, co-Chair of the joint Committees, Hon. Dokun Odebunmi explained that the public hearing was aimed at unravelling the basis for the Federal Government’s decision on the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria.

He observed that the reasons for the ban of Twitter as pronounced by the Minister of Information on June 6, 2021, was not clear to Nigerians, hence the resolution to investigate the legal authority as well as the objective and duration of the suspension of Twitter in the country.

In order to address the lingering controversies, Hon. Odebunmi tasked all the invited stakeholders to ensure that their presentations are “guided and geared toward Nigerians unity, interest, sincerity of purpose and resolve to have a better and crisis-free Nigeria through our collective efforts as being propagated by the 9th House of Representatives that a nation-building is a joint task.”

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FG accuses Twitter of promoting instability, act of terrorism