NBC to license all social media ‘operations’ in Nigeria – Lai Mohammed

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, states that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) will immediately begin the process of licensing all social media operations in Nigeria.

Mohammed made this known just as he declared that the Federal Government has also suspended social media platform, Twitter, which is prevalently utilised by Nigerian youths, elite and the middle class.

The action of the government followed Twitter’s deletion of a ‘civil war’ post by President Muhammadu Buhari which the social media platform said violated its policies.

Other social media platforms used by Nigerians include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, among others.

According to a statement on Friday by the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Segun Adeyemi, the Minister stated that the measure is with immediate effect.

Meanwhile, checks by our reporter indicated that Twitter is still up in Nigeria as of the time of filing this report as users still have access to the platform. The Minister’s statement was also silent on the time that the ban would be enforced.

The statement named, ‘FG Suspends Twitter’s Operations in Nigeria’, read, “The Federal Government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed declared the suspension in a statement released in Abuja on Friday, quoting the continuous use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining the corporate existence of Nigeria.