Nigeria is looking to impose the same conditions given to Twitter on all other social media platforms accessible in the country.
Nigeria’s information minister Lai Mohammed said the decision was borne out of the recent development on suspension of Twitter operations in the country and the agreement reached before the suspension was lifted.
“Whatever applies to Twitter will apply to all other social media platforms, be it WhatsApp, Facebook or any other,” News Agency of Nigeria quoted Mohammed as saying on the sidelines of bilateral discussions with Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) on how Nigeria can access funding to support its growing creative industry.
The discussions were held in Egypt.
“That is why we will be having a retreat to amend the NBC Act and the NBC Code to incorporate these new gains we made with the engagement with Twitter,” the minister added.
The Nigerian Government lifted the suspension of Twitter operations in the country on January 12, months after it announced a clampdown on the social media platform.
The suspension was lifted after Twitter agreed to establish “a legal entity in Nigeria during the first quarter of 2022”, the director-general of National Information Technology Development Agency Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi said in a statement on Wednesday.
Abdullahi headed the Nigerian team that negotiated with Twitter.
Apart from establishing offices in Nigeria, the Nigerian government said Twitter has also agreed to pay applicable tax in the country and “appoint a designated country representative to interface with Nigerian authorities.”
Mohammed said Twitter agreed to meet all regulatory demands, including the Companies and Allied Matters Act, Nigeria Communication Commission laws and rules and National Broadcasting Commission Code.
“Twitter has agreed to comply to all payable taxes as they are operating under the Nigerian laws and this they agreed to do within one week of restoring their operations.
“Twitter agreed to immediately work with the Federal Government in the area of code of conduct which is in line with global best practices.”
