The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed says the country will not fold its hand and watch any person or group use the social media platforms to truncate the country’s peace and security.
Lai Mohammed stated this on Thursday while presenting President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration scorecard from 2015 to 2022.
He said the federal government has no intention to ban twitter or any other social media platform, but would closely monitor their activities.
“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.
“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 destabilize 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.” Alhaji Lai noted.
Early last year, the country banned Twitter for allegedly using its platform to spread fake news and hate speech.