🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
After seven months of government blackout, Nigeria officially lifted its ban on Twitter on January 12. The government claimed the change was based on Twitter's agreement to meet all of its demands, which include opening a local office, addressing concerns over its tax payments, and "managing prohibited publication in line with Nigerian law."
But experts say there is likely more to it than that.
"With elections coming up next year, politicians and government officials will likely want to use Twitter, and other social media networks, as a way to engage with the population and garner public support," Lanre Arogundade, executive director of the International Press Centre, told Newsweek.
This double-sided approach to social media is not unique. Leaders across the world, from Narendra Modi in India to Donald Trump in the United States, have condemned social media policies while simultaneously using the platform to engage with constituents. As more politicians and official government departments utilize social media than ever before, Arogundade said that increased usage has invited louder calls for regulation.
The Nigerian government has made multiple attempts to regulate social media platforms, ranging from fines for "harmful" content to social networks being forced to secure a broadcast license to continue operations. Ultimately, few of the attempts have been successful as usage in the nation continues to rise, while credible harms like misinformation and criminal activity remain relatively unaffected.
Arogundade said that in an effort to adjust, governments have adopted a new strategy. Officials are looking to justify regulation and increased surveillance of social media platforms by using the rationale of stopping the spread of "fake news," hate speech or reports that may destabilize the country.
"The problem we have is that the legislation that has been brought forward to address these real problems tend to also curtail media rights and freedom of expression," he said.
Arogundade estimated that the Nigerian economy lost as much as N546.5 billion (about $1.3 billion USD) during the course of the seven-month ban.
He said that leading up to the ban, the Nigerian government simply did not understand how important Twitter was to its users and economy.
"They didn't look after the economic costs, and did not realize the contribution that social media platforms are making to the economy in terms of providing employment for a number of young people," Arogundade said.
But it didn't take long for the government to realize the impact.
Arogundade said that the economic and civic implications of this suspension were evident from day one. As the economy continued its decline and civic discontent grew louder, the government faced increasing pressure to amend its policies.
"It probably took this Twitter ban for the Nigerian government to realize what Twitter means to the majority of the younger generation," he said.
Twitter has become increasingly popular on the African continent, especially in countries like Nigeria, which has more than 120 million people under the age of 25, and more than 40 million social media users with rapidly expanding access to technology. The ban was imposed by President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Information Technology Development Agency.
Many criticized President Buhari's actions when the ban was first announced as an infringement on users' freedom of expression and access to information — two crucial pillars of democracy.
"The United States condemns the ongoing suspension of Twitter by the Nigerian government and subsequent threats to arrest and prosecute Nigerians who use Twitter," said Ned Price, a United States State Department spokesperson.
"Freedom of expression and access to information both online and offline are foundational to prosperous and secure democratic societies," he added.
While loud at the outset, international criticism of the ban faded quickly, as the U.S. and the European Union resumed regular diplomatic relations. Domestically, however, the service ban had a profound impact, restricting users from accessing the platform and impacting the sales of businesses engaged in Nigeria's growing e-commerce sector.
"Twitter became a space of enterprise," Obadore said. "For many people, Twitter was a primary avenue to trade goods and services. This was not just mom and pop businesses, but individual startups."
The ban jeopardized Nigeria's role as the unofficial tech hub of Africa and limited economic growth, as businesses were forced to transition and foreign investors pivoted their funding to other African countries.
But the government saw Twitter as a threat.
"Clearly, the government saw Twitter as a space where the opposition could gather, and where people could pose a threat to state power," said Ebenezer Obadore, Douglas Dillon Senior Fellow for Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. "That is your evidence for the seriousness of Twitter, and other social media platforms, as a space for civic and political engagement."
Other countries are also battling with the social media giant.
In a report published on Tuesday, Twitter said that it received over 12,000 government information requests and 43,387 legal demands for the removal of content in the first six months of 2021. This is the largest number of such requests in a reporting period since it started releasing transparency reports in 2012.
"We are facing unprecedented challenges as governments around the world increasingly attempt to intervene and remove content," Sinead McSweeney, Twitter's vice president of global public policy and philanthropy, said in a statement.
"This threat to privacy and freedom of expression is a deeply worrying trend that requires our full attention," she added.
Twitter's growth has brought new levels of transparency and communication to users across the world. Approaching 400 million global users, it has also caught the attention of international leaders, who are pushing for increased levels of government scrutiny and control over the social media giant, while looking to use it for their own purposes.
While misinformation and "fake news" are major issues, Arogundade said there are solutions available that do not limit people's freedom of expression.
"Governments should address their issues (on social media) with policies and measures put in place," he said. "That should not mean that they interfere with the rights of people to use social media platforms of their choice, as long as they're not violating any laws."
Overall, Obadore said the past seven months have shined light on an outdated government structure that is completely out of touch with an increasingly digitized society.
"The state moves at the speed of a glacier, while society moves at the speed of an aircraft carrier," Obadare said. "Young people in Nigeria are so digitally savvy and know their way around the internet, but when you go to a government office you find computers that have not been opened for months and servers that don't work optimally."
"The government itself, in terms of its collective mentality, still thinks analogically, and I'm suggesting that the Twitter ban itself is evidence of that," he added.
