Government Won’t Rest Until Social Media Is Regulated In Nigeria- Lai Mohammed

Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has revealed government’s plan not to relax until social media is regulated in the West African country. The minister made this disclosure during an interview with NAN in Washington, USA.

 Reacting to rumours that said he sneaked out of Nigeria to the US for a meeting with Twitter operators as regards the ban of the social media platform in Nigeria, Lai stated that such fake news gives credence to the fact that social media needs to be regulated

 “Can a minister sneak out of Nigeria without people knowing? When you say I sneaked out of Nigeria, are you saying I went to board at a terminal where nobody is or I travelled to the Republic of Benin to fly out of the country?”

I was at an international airport, where I presented myself openly and I was checked in at the counter like every other traveller of the airline. I boarded and passed through the checks by the immigration service and customs.

How can you come and say I sneaked out of the country? You and I have been here, have I met with any Twitter official­?

When you talk about fake news and its dangers, we need to take it seriously and I am happy that the entire world is now seeing what we saw more than two years ago. I can assure you that we will not rest until we regulate the social media. Otherwise, nobody will survive it.”

It will be recalled that on June 4, 2021, the federal government banned the operation of Twitter in Nigerian internet space. Though the ban came few hours after a post by President Buhari was deleted by Twitter, the government while addressing the ban stated that its decision was owing to “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”

Source

The Cable