The Nigerian government restored access in the country to Twitter on Thursday after a seven-month suspension that was imposed after the social media site deleted a post by Nigeria’s president that threatened a violent crackdown on secessionist groups. (NYT)
The government said the company had agreed to its conditions on the management of unlawful content, to registering its operations in Nigeria and to a new tax arrangement. (The Guardian)
The Nigerian government banned Twitter on June 5, 2021 just days after the company deleted a tweet by the country’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, that threatened secessionists in Nigeria’s southeast region. Some had interpreted the tweet as threatening genocide for its reference to the Nigerian civil war of the 1960s. (The Verge)
Many Nigerians had continued to access the site after the suspension using virtual private networks (VPNs) but most corporate organizations, including many media outfits, had obeyed the government’s order. (BBC News)