Nigeria suspends Twitter indefinitely after the site deleted a tweet from its President

On June 4, the country of Nigeria suspended all of its Twitter operations for government and civilians after Jack Dorsey and the Twitter corporation removed a tweet from their president.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Nigerian minister of information and culture, said the decision stemmed from citizens using the platform for activities “capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence,” according to a press release from the country a few days ago. A spokesperson over at Twitter reported to Insider a response to the move by Nigeria, saying, “The announcement made by the Nigerian Government that they have suspended Twitter’s operations in Nigeria is deeply concerning. We’re investigating and will provide updates when we know more.”

Information from Reuters and reported by Yahoo News cites, “The move follows Twitter’s decision to remove a post by Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish those responsible for recent attacks on electoral offices and police stations, and referenced the country’s 1960s civil war that killed 1 million people.”

Citizens in Nigeria have been protesting against the country’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad police unit, known as SARS, for nearly a year now. Amnesty International published a report suggesting the police unit had committed at least 82 acts of torture, ill-treatment, and extra-judicial execution between January 2017 and May 2020. “Nigeria responded to protests by opening fire at a peaceful demonstration, leading to several deaths, according to Amnesty International,” according to Yahoo News.

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ARTICLE: ETHAN FINN
MANAGING EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE
PHOTO CREDITS: BUSINESS – INSIDER