The House of Representatives on Thursday, July 1, rejected the motion seeking to lift the federal government’s ban on microblogging and social med
The House of Representatives on Thursday, July 1, rejected the motion seeking to lift the federal government’s ban on microblogging and social media platform, Twitter.
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, had on June 8, 2021, mandated the committees on Communication, Justice, Information, and Culture; and National Security and Intelligence, to immediately commence an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the suspension of the operations of Twitter in Nigeria.
However, while the committees’ reports were being considered, the deputy minority leader of the House, Toby Okechukwu suggested an amendment to one of the recommendations.
The recommendation read; “That the Federal Government should take into cognizance the negative effect of the Twitter suspension on Nigerians who depend on the platform for their livelihood.”
The motion was rejected by a majority of the House when put to vote, after being seconded by another lawmaker.
It can be recalled that the federal government, a few weeks ago, suspended the operations of Twitter indefinitely in the country citing double standards by the microblogging and social media platform, and the persistent use of the platform for activities that were capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.
The suspension was announced, days after Twitter deleted a post by President Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly violating its policy.
