Reactions have continued to emanate over the propriety of the decision by the Federal Government of Nigeria on the indefinite suspension of the microblogging platform, Twitter on June 4, 2021.
Recall that the action to ban Twitter was taken after one of President Muhammadu Buhari's tweets was deleted as a result of multiple reports by citizens of Nigeria using the platform.
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami had also issued a statement on June 5, 2021, that the Federal Government (FG) would prosecute Nigerians found violating the suspension order.
AllNews spoke with some Nigerian Lawyers in separate interviews, over the perceived Human Rights violations.
Ridwan Oloyede, a cybersecurity, technology, and privacy law expert at Famsville Solicitors stated that the move by FG is an attack and suppression of the freedom of expression guaranteed under the constitution and other international human rights norms that Nigeria is a party to.
"There are prescribe normative values which member states must guarantee.
"A UN resolution in 2016 said that Human Rights offline should also be guaranteed online and interestingly, Nigeria supported the particular resolution.
"The biggest threat is to the freedom of expression online. What will the government do next? Network disruption? Shutdown more platforms? Weaken communication encryption? Nothing is certain," he said.
According to Oloyede, courts are under locks and that has been the case for two months. Succor seems far since democratic institutions appear to be weakened.
"There is a thing called separation of power and these institutions are meant to be independent.
"If this illegality is challenged before the court, the court has a responsibility to decide if the constitution has been infringed or not.
"It's an institution meant to be that last bastion. Whether they will rise up to the responsibility or not, I cannot say for sure," Oloyede said.
Ahmed Kehinde Olaniyan Esq, a Tech-Lawyer and principal partner at Umar & Olaniyan LP said:
"The Constitution provides for freedom of expression for every citizen of the country without being criticised for it. This shows the fundamental rights of every citizen.
"Section 39 specifically states that every citizen will enjoy that liberty of freedom of expression.
"Twitter is an app that is an avenue for people to express their thought but such thought must be in line with the rules laid down in the App's terms and conditions.
"Many subscribers have agreed to those terms including the head of state and government agencies," Olaniyan said.
The Legal Practitioner added that the Twitter app was not created for a country or someone or somebody, but for a lot of people. Banning Twitter because of a tweet that the company felt was inconsistent with its rules is a bad idea.
"This is an avenue many Nigerians are using for their businesses and social life.
"Computers are programmed to recognise images and contents, which means that the computer can automatically delete contents which are inconsistent with the rule of the app"
"Deleting President Buhari's post should not be an issue that will cause a country to ban the usage of the Twitter app in Nigeria. This has economic implications.
"The government needs to revisit the order not to bite its fingers later," Olaniyan said.
Olayinka Akinwole, Assistant Secretary, NBA, Ota Branch said;
"The ban is outrageous and too sudden but that is the only way the President can exert his authority,
"If such had happened in the U.S., there would be a public outcry because a lot of people rely on the Twitter app,
"Nigerians are also using the app but not as much. Not a lot of people are aware of the app called 'Twitter' if not for the educated folks."
"The ban affects mostly the youths in the country," he added.
Regarding the statement by the AGF to prosecute violators of the Twitter ban, there is no law in Nigeria that prohibits the use of social media, therefore the ban cannot be enforced.
"The AGF has no power to make such pronouncement," Olayinka said.
Adekunle Isiaq Opeyemi, an Abuja-based Legal Practitioner was of the opinion that the government has bitten more than it can chew.
"Twitter operation is unstoppable especially with the use of VPN and this reality has dealt a serious blow on the government, hence, an indication of interest to reverse its suspension order," he added.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), all broadcast stations in Nigeria have been directed to deactivate their Twitter accounts with immediate effect. According to the statement:
"Broadcasting Stations are hereby directed to de-install Twitter handles and desist from using Twitter as a source (UGC) of information gathering for news and programmes, presentaions especially Phone-in." the statement said in part.
Check out the full statement below:
According to reports, deliberation is ongoing to lift the Twitter ban, upon the fulfillment of certain conditions.
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