Nigeria Suspends Twitter’s Operations Following a Feud

(Bloomberg) -- Nigeria said it is suspending Twitter Inc’s operations “indefinitely,” two days after the social media giant deleted President Muhammadu Buhari post on the site.

The ban is due “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence,” Minister of Information Lai Mohammed said in a statement Friday, which was also posted on Twitter. The minister has also directed its broadcast commission to “immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT (over-the-top) and social media operations in Nigeria.”

Read more: Nigeria Condemns Twitter for Deleting President Buhari’s Tweet

Twitter has been embroiled in controversies from Nigeria to India as governments try to frame their narrative via social media. In Nigeria, the San Francisco-based company this week took down Buhari’s tweet for violating its rules, while in India it has deemed some enforcement orders to be improper curbs on free speech.

Twitter’s App remained operational in Nigeria on Friday and it’s not clear how the government intends to enforce the suspension. The App is popular with young urban Nigerians, ranking as the sixth most used social media platform in the country.

The Internet service providers can be asked to block the ports for Twitter and once this is done, the App will no longer be accessible, Yele Okeremi, chief executive of Precise Financial System, a financial technology company in Yaba said by phone.

“This makes our country look like a pariah state. Businesses are going to be badly impacted. It’s not good for them and our economy,” Okeremi said.

Twitter has no physical presence in Nigeria. In April, it announced that it is setting up its African office in Ghana, snubbing Africa’s most populous country for its West African neighbor.

Twitter was not immediately available for comment.

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