{"id":538,"date":"2022-05-23T03:28:40","date_gmt":"2022-05-23T03:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citywatch.ng\/nigerians-react-to-elon-musks-twitter-takeover-al-jazeera-english\/"},"modified":"2022-05-23T03:28:40","modified_gmt":"2022-05-23T03:28:40","slug":"nigerians-react-to-elon-musks-twitter-takeover-al-jazeera-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citywatch.ng\/nigerians-react-to-elon-musks-twitter-takeover-al-jazeera-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerians react to Elon Musk\u2019s Twitter takeover – Al Jazeera English"},"content":{"rendered":"
Nigerians fear the billionaire Twitter owner\u2019s philosophy of free speech absolutism could affect their freedom of speech.<\/em> The Twitter ban mirrored a growing international trend \u2013 other countries like India, North Korea, Iran and China also censured the network, as users pushed its mobilisation capacity to the limits.
Lagos, Nigeria<\/strong> \u2013 As Elon Musk\u2019s $44bn takeover of Twitter sends users and media outlets into a frenzy, there have been mixed reactions from citizens of Nigeria, Africa\u2019s most populous country.
For its estimated<\/a> three million Nigerian users, Twitter has come to be an important civic space to hold the government accountable and mobilise for political and social causes.
Last year, Twitter, under its past CEO and founder, Jack Dorsey, came under fire from the Nigerian government, which banned the platform<\/a> from operating in the country for seven months.
The standoff was a result of the platform\u2019s decision to delete a tweet from President Muhhamdu Buhari that it tagged as \u201cgenocidal\u201d and in contravention of the platform\u2019s policies.
A section of Nigerians believe that the company\u2019s new leadership under South African-born Musk, noted for his \u201cfree speech\u201d rhetoric and less politically progressive stance than Dorsey, will not stand with them in their time of need.
\u201cEssentially, as a Nigerian, Twitter is a very important platform for us,\u2019\u2019 Uloma Nwoke, a 26-year-old digital strategist told Al Jazeera, \u201cAnd Jack stepping down and the company being taken over by a person who has not shown that he really cares [about political movements] is very disturbing.\u201d
From #BringBackOurGirls, a rescue campaign for more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the armed group Boko Haram to #EndSARS, a movement against police brutality and extrajudicial killings in Nigeria, Twitter has emerged as a major rallying tool for the youth.
\u201cTwitter was very crucial during the ENDSARS protests,\u201d Nwoke said. \u201cAnd it is not because it was Twitter, we know that it was Jack that did that and I don\u2019t see how someone like Elon will key into the political struggle of oppressed people in their countries.\u201d
Others said Musk\u2019s entrance into the scene is a triumph for freedom of speech and information.
My Take on Elon Musk’s $44billion acquisition of Twitter\ud83d\udc47
Like Democracy, freedom of speech and of information is a right and so enhancing it with this popular app is always going to be a positive.
It will be interesting in coming days and weeks how this all play out indeed.
\u2014 AURACOOL (@TWEETORACLE) April 26, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n
In Nigeria, the ban was only lifted in January<\/a> after an undisclosed agreement was reached with the government. During the ban, information minister Lai Mohammed cited China as a reference for the government\u2019s actions.
\u201cFor example, in China, social media is being regulated and such a thing is not in Nigeria, and we have all those agencies that are capable of the regulation in the country,\u2019\u2019 he said<\/a> at a news conference last year.
With the Nigerian government looking to regulate social media platforms, it is still unclear how Musk\u2019s emergence might help the government\u2019s censure plans.
Tomiwa Ilori, a doctoral researcher on internet freedom at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria told Al Jazeera that the position of the Nigerian government and Musk\u2019s philosophy are at odds.
\u201cThis is because the Nigerian government claims it wants to rid social media platforms, including Twitter, of online harms \u2013 even though this is not the case \u2013 while Musk cares little about such harms and would rather allow all kinds of speech,\u201d he said. \u201cThis could provide the Nigerian government with the excuse of clamping on social media platforms because all kinds of speech are allowed.\u201d
Ilori added that Musk\u2019s stance as \u201ca free speech absolutist\u201d is a luxury many Western countries can afford, but not Africa.
\u201cThere are complex political, historical and cultural contexts that influence speech in many non-Western systems such that there has to be some level of limitation on expression, especially under international human rights law\u201d, he said.\u201d
\u201cFor example \u2026 online hate speech has been allowed to fester on social media platforms in Ethiopia. Countries like Russia also nest troll farms in countries like Ghana to manipulate online information and derail elections in African countries. Actors like Twitter cannot afford to be a free speech absolutist in such instances.\u201d
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