2023: Real reason we lifted Twitter ban – FG

<p><strong>The <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;OpenLife&period;ng">Federal Government<&sol;a> has revealed why it lifted the ban on micro blogging platform&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;buhari-finally-lifts-ban-on-twitter&sol;">Twitter<&sol;a> after 222 days&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On Wednesday&comma; the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;buhari-finally-lifts-ban-on-twitter&sol;">Nigerian government lifted the suspension of Twitter operations<&sol;a> in the country following approval by President Muhammadu Buhari&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The development was announced by the Chairman Technical Committee&comma; Nigeria-Twitter Engagement and Director-General National Information Technology Development Agency &lpar;NITDA&rpar;&comma; Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Dismissing speculations that Twitter will be needed to aid campaigns for the 2023 elections&comma; the Federal Government said the ban was lifted because of the mutual benefits&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&&num;8220&semi;The process of resolving this impasse between the FGN and Twitter Inc&period; has helped lay a foundation for a mutually beneficial future with endless possibilities&period; Twitter is a platform of choice for many Nigerians ranging from young innovators to public sector officials who find it helpful to engage their audience&period; Therefore&comma; our engagement will help Twitter improve and develop more business models to cover a broader area in Nigeria&period; Furthermore&comma; the FGN looks forward to providing a conducive environment for Twitter and other global tech companies to achieve their potential and be sustainably profitable in Nigeria&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Some of the gains include&colon;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>a&rpar; Ongoing economic and training opportunities as the Company continues to consider expanding its presence in Nigeria&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>b&rpar; Getting a better understanding of how to use the Twitter platform effectively to improve businesses&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>c&rpar; Revenue generation from the operation of Twitter in Nigeria&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>d&rpar; Smooth and coordinated relationship between Nigerian Government and Twitter leading to mutual trust&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>e&rpar; Reduction of cybercriminal activities such as terrorism&comma; cyberstalking&comma; hate speech&comma; etc&period;&semi; and<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>f&rpar; Working with Twitter and other global companies to build an acceptable code of conduct following the global best practice&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The FGN has asked Twitter to fulfil some conditions before restoring its services&period; These conditions addressed legal registration of operations&comma; taxation&comma; and managing prohibited publication in line with Nigerian laws&period; Twitter has agreed to meet all the conditions set by the FGN&period; Consequently&comma; the FGN and Twitter have decided on an execution timeline&comma; which has started this week&period; Our engagement with Twitter opens a new chapter in global digital diplomacy and sets a new operational template for Twitter to come back stronger for the benefit of Nigerians&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The following are the resolutions agreed with Twitter&period; Inc&period;&colon;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>i&period; Twitter has committed to establishing a legal entity in Nigeria during the first quarter of 2022&period; The legal entity will register with the Corporate Affairs Commission &lpar;CAC&rpar;&period; The establishment of the entity is Twitter’s first step in demonstrating its long-term commitment to Nigeria&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>ii&period; Twitter has agreed to appoint a designated country representative to interface with Nigerian authorities&period; The Global Public Policy team is also directly available through a dedicated communication channel&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>iii&period; Twitter has agreed to comply with applicable tax obligations on its operations under Nigerian law&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>iv&period; Twitter has agreed to enrol Nigeria in its Partner Support and Law Enforcement Portals&period; The Partner Support Portal provides a direct channel for government officials and Twitter staff to manage prohibited content that violates Twitter community rules&period; At the same time&comma; the Law Enforcement Portal provides a channel for the law enforcement agencies to submit a report with a legal justification where it suspects that content violates Nigerian Laws&period; Taken together&comma; these represent a comprehensive compliance apparatus&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>v&period; Twitter has agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgement of Nigerian laws and the national culture and history on which such legislation has been built and work with the FGN and the broader industry to develop a Code of Conduct in line with global best practices&comma; applicable in almost all developed countries&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>We encourage all users of the Twitter platform to maintain ethical behaviour and refrain from promoting divisive&comma; dangerous&comma; and distasteful information on the platform&period; As patriotic citizens&comma; we need to be mindful that anything illegal offline is also illegal online and that committing a crime using a Nigerian Internet Protocol &lpar;IP&rpar; is synonymous with committing a crime within our jurisdiction&&num;8221&semi;&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;