By Ife Osemedua
365Daily – The Federal Government has insisted that it acted within the ambits of the law in its decision to suspend the operations of Twitter in Nigeria.
It said the ban was well founded in law and does not breach any citizens’ rights.
The Federal Government, on June 4, 2021, suspended the operations of Twitter in Nigeria indefinitely.
Mohammed said in defence of the ban that it was been used to undermine the corporate existence of Nigeria.
The ban was followed by a directive to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all Over the Top (OTT) and social media operations in the country.
This was greeted by widespread rejection by Nigerians and outcry from concerned foreign partners who called for a reversal of the ban.
The House of Representatives, in response, referred the case to Joint committee for investigation into the matter.
Delivering the position of the government while appearing before the Committee on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said Twitter violated public interest and negated some provisions of the Terrorism Act and the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
He further stated that the suspension of the micro-blogging app was in line with national and international laws which empower Nigeria to regulate its cyber space and give all necessary orders designating any computer system, network or application as forming part of its national infrastructure.
The Minister stressed that the freedom of expression guaranteed in Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution is not absolute as Section 49 of the same Constitution permits restrictions of civil liberties in the public interest.
Mohammed said: “Public Interest takes precedent over individual interest.
“The operations of Twitter in the Nigerian social space is not legally permissible when it is used in airing of information that endangers the life and security of the majority of citizens of Nigeria.
“This is in light of the fact that the platform affords IPOB, an organisation already proscribed by the Federal High Court, to champion its seditious and terrorist based activities
“The principles of law are clear on the exercise of personal human rights in the face of national security threats which affects the larger citizen,’’ he said.
He argued that the Federal Government is empowered to take all reasonable steps to defend its cyber space where it perceives or finds that a cyber-crime is about to be committed or has been committed.
The Minister said both national and international statutes empower the government to regulate and promote the security of the Nigerian cyber space, including but not limited to organisation and user’s assets.
He said: “Organisation and user’s assets include connected computing devices, personnel, infrastructure, applications, services and telecommunications systems.
“It also included the totality of transmitted and/or stored information within the Nigerian cyber-Space/environment including social media such as Twitter, Facebook…, applications, internet platforms, and cloud computing platforms,’’ he said.
Going further, Mohammed stressed that where a seditious act has been committed against the Federal Government through the Cyber Space, the perpetrators shall be liable.
Elucidating on his submission, he pointed out that the rights to freedom of expression on the Twitter platform is qualified by the provisions of sections 5(1) and (2) of the Terrorism Act of 2011.
He said the sections provide that any person who directly or indirectly solicits or renders support for commission of an act of terrorism commits an offence liable on conviction to not less than 20 years.
“This include incitement to commit a terrorist act through the internet or any electronic means or through the use of printed materials or through the dissemination of terrorist information,” he explained.
Furthermore, Mohammed said Twitter was operating a business entity in Nigeria without fulfilling the conditions precedent by registering with the Corporate Affairs Commission, making it illegal.
He said CAMA, the primary law governing businesses in Nigeria, provides that a foreign company must take necessary steps to obtain incorporation as a separate entity before engaging in any business.
“Until so incorporated, the foreign company shall not carry on business in Nigeria or exercise any powers of a registered company as provides in Section 78 (1) of CAMA, 2020.
“Hence, flowing from this background a foreign Company as Twitter cannot be clothed with the legitimate rights to operate as a company registered in Nigeria, as they are not licensed accordingly,’’ he said.
Also in the presentation, the Minister said that the State Security Services (SSS, which provided the lawful basis for the suspension of Twitter, acted in line with its power of prevention and detection of any crime against the internal security of Nigeria.
He concluded by informing the Committee that the ban on the operation of Twitter was done in the interest of the country.