The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has sent an urgent appeal to the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Patricia Scotland to sanction the Nigerian Government over the recent unlawful suspension of the microblogging social media app – Twitter.
Twitter was suspended in Nigeria following the removal of the Presidential tweet that violated some of its guidelines on abusive behaviour. The Federal Government statement read that the app has been suspended indefinitely in Nigeria for propagating activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.
It doesn’t end there, Nigeria’s Attorney General has also threatened to prosecute those who violated the ban byusing other means to get around to using the app.
Several Human Rights advocates have reacted to the ban and in an urgent appeal to the Commonwealth, SERAP is seeking a stance is taken by the body to ensure freedom of speech and access to information in Nigeria is preserved at all cost. The appeal read in parts below:
Nigerians can only freely participate in the democratic processes and shape the society in which they live if these fundamental human rights are fully and effectively respected, protected and promoted
The suspension has the character of collective punishment and is antithetical to the Nigerian Constitution and the country’s international obligations. Nigerian authorities would seem to be suppressing people’s access to Twitter to exploit the shutdown to cover up allegations of corruption, abuses, and restrict freedom of expression and other fundamental rights.
The suspension of Twitter in Nigeria is taking place against the background of repression of the civic space and harassment of media houses, and journalists who are targeted simply for performing their professional duty.
The suspension of Twitter has seriously undermined transparency and accountability in government. The lack of transparency undermines the rule of law and Nigerians’ ability to participate in their own government.
SERAP