By Ismail Auwal
The Federal Government (FG), and Twitter Inc. have reached five major resolutions that lead to the upliftment of the ban imposed on the social media platform.
It could be recalled that on 5th June 2021, the FG suspended the operation of Twitter in the country.
Thereafter, the President constituted a seven-man Presidential Committee to engage Twitter Inc.
The Presidential Committee set a 20-member Technical Committee comprising all relevant government agencies which engaged and worked directly with the Twitter Team.
SAHELIAN TIMES learned that after work of the technical committee, the FG asked Twitter to fulfill some conditions before restoring its services.
The conditions include addressed legal registration of operations, taxation, and managing prohibited publication in line with Nigerian laws.
The paper also learned that Twitter has agreed to meet all the conditions set by the FGN. Consequently, the FG and Twitter have decided on an execution timeline, which has started this week.
Details of the resolutions were provided by Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa in a document received by the paper.
The following are the resolutions agreed with Twitter. Inc.:
- Twitter has committed to establishing a legal entity in Nigeria during the first quarter of 2022. The legal entity will register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). The establishment of the entity is Twitter’s first step in demonstrating its long-term commitment to Nigeria.
- Twitter has agreed to appoint a designated country representative to interface with Nigerian authorities. The Global Public Policy team is also directly available through a dedicated communication channel.
- Twitter has agreed to comply with applicable tax obligations on its operations under Nigerian Law.
- Twitter has agreed to enrol Nigeria in its Partner Support and Law Enforcement Portals. The Partner Support Portal provides a direct channel for government officials and Twitter staff to manage prohibited content that violates Twitter community rules. At the same time, 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. Taken together, these represent a comprehensive compliance apparatus.
- Twitter has agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgment 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, applicable in almost all developed countries.
