The suspension of
Twitter in Nigeria may be the beginning of what the government had planned to
do over the years — the regulation of social media.
But is Twitter Inc. alone affected by this directive? No.
The statement, made by Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, came as the government suspended the operations of Twitter, the microblogging and social networking service.
“The Minister said
the Federal Government has also directed the National Broadcasting Commission
(NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media
operations in Nigeria,” the minister said.
Twitter’s suspension comes
days after a post by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 1967 civil war was
deleted by the microblogging platform.
In a series of posts on Twitter on Tuesday, the president
had condemned the attacks on government facilities in the country, and
referencing the civil war, threatened to treat those “bent on destroying”
Nigeria “through insurrection” in “a language they understand”.
Defending Buhari’s post, the information minister had
condemned the deletion of the president’s post and accused Twitter of “double
standards”.
WHAT ARE OTT SERVICES?
Over-the-Top (OTT) services are essential media services
offered directly to viewers via the internet. Most often, such contents can be
streamed on computers, smartphones, and other devices.
They bypass cable, broadcast, and satellite television
platforms – the type of media services that NBC traditionally act as controller
or regulator.
In Nigeria, Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook, FB Messenger,
Skype, iROKOtv, and Netflix are currently running on OTT.
HOW WILL THE DIRECTIVE AFFECT SOCIAL MEDIA OPERATIONS?
One of the avenues through which Nigerian citizens air their
views on the actions and policies of government have been through social media
platforms. These platforms have given voice and hope to countless citizens on
various issues, including politics, opportunities, and economic powers
worldwide.
With the regulation, the government will put the users’
right on the line by setting modalities for OTT service operations in the
country. The modalities may hamper citizen’s ability to freely and safely
express themselves on those platforms.
For instance, India set out internet modalities for the operations of
social media giants, which include Facebook, Twitter and others, to take
responsibility for every user post on their channels. These rules are also
obtainable in China, where social media platforms have to censor content before
appearing online.
Social media companies are also at the mercy of the federal
government and could be ordered by the authorities to remove any flagged
content.
Adeboye Adegoke, a digital right activist at Paradigm
Initiative, said the implications are enormous and beyond the big companies
like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp.
“The government is targetting the bigger players, but the
policy has far implications for the smaller ones, most especially indigenous
players providing OTT services like VBloggers, Influencers, etc., providing
learning, tutorials, and other consultancy services,” he said.
“These are the people
we need to be more concerned about.
“If you have ever been bothered that most leading tech
companies are foreign, you will then be faced with bigger issues. Regulating
OTT services would kill potentials of young tech genius in the country because
the government is not allowing a conducive environment.”
For Netflix, iROKOtv, and other streaming platforms, the
authorities can also determine the content they stream for the Nigerian
audience. Any anti-government content may not scale through.
Just like the government’s current battle with Twitter,
users’ activities on other social media channels may now come at a cost.
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