Twitter’s “arbitrary” suspension in Nigeria

Twitter’s “arbitrary” suspension in Nigeria

19 juillet, 2022

AfricTivistes acknowledges ECOWAS Court verdict, urges more proactivity in rulings

On Thursday 14 July 2022, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice issued a verdict on the Nigerian government’s decision to ban the social network Twitter in June 2021 following the deletion of President Muhammad Buhari’s tweet inciting violence.

The Court stated that the government had violated Nigerian citizens’ right to access information and freedom of opinion and expression under Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 

The suspension of the social network also breached the rights of the complainants to enjoy their freedom of expression and access to information and the media, the court pointed out, ordering the Nigerian government to take legislative measures to guarantee their rights and to pay their legal costs.

The verdict follows a case filed in July 2021 by citizens and human rights organisations against the Nigerian federal State for suspending the social network in Nigeria. The Nigerian government argued that by deleting President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet from its platform, Twitter was siding with the secessionists in the south-east of the country. The tweet referred to the Nigerian civil war of 1967-70 and the need to deal with “those who are misbehaving today” in “the language they will understand”.

This suspension lasted for 7 months until Twitter agreed in January 2022 to register as a company in Nigeria and pay local taxes after negotiations.

It is noted that more and more African countries are trying to control social media by passing laws to limit freedoms or increase taxes to discourage its use by citizens. This is no secret that social media has democratised freedom of speech and opinion in Africa. 

In 2021 alone, the KeepItOn Coalition’s report on Internet shutdowns reveals that the number of shutdowns has increased from 159 in 29 countries in 2020 to 182 in 34 countries in 2021, mostly in Africa, for various reasons: education, security, elections, demonstrations or supposed security reasons. 

Between 2010 and 2021, many African countries passed or prepared laws to restrict social media or increase censorship, often justifying these drastic laws as protection against cybercrime.

The ECOWAS court’s verdict is the second of its kind in internet related matters after the 2020 ruling that the internet shutdown in Togo during the 2017 protests was illegal and that the Togolese state was fined.

AfricTivistes regrets, however, that this decision comes a year after the facts. Even if we understand the delay in the decision-making process, we believe that the Court’s decision should have been taken a long time ago and that it should be accompanied by strict sanctions to dissuade States that would attempt to take such postures.

AfricTivistes believes that there is a need for rapid mechanisms to deal with such urgent matters.

AfricTivistes therefore calls on the Court to be more proactive as increasing numbers of states in the region look for new ways to trample on the rights of their citizens on the Internet by passing additional repressive laws under the façade of counter-terrorism or by imposing taxes on the use of social media platforms to discourage their use.

However, AfricTivistes welcomes the Regional Court’s sentences in the Togo and Nigeria cases. We believe they confirm that internet rights are human rights.

Ultimately, we urge the Court to be vigilant about the most flagrant violations of internet blackouts, censorship, cybersurveillance and violation of personal data by African states.

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