Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, says the
federal government will not rest until social media platforms are regulated.
The minister, in an interview with NAN in Washington, on
Wednesday, said the dangers of fake news on social media must be taken seriously.
Mohammed also explained that the online media report that he
“sneaked out of Nigeria to meet with Twitter executives’’ in the US is fake.
The minister said he came to the US to meet with
international media organisations and think-tanks on the achievements of
President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, and efforts made so far in
tackling insurgency, banditry, and all forms of criminality.
The minister, who has so far engaged with the BBC,
Bloomberg, and Politico during his visit to Washington DC, said he hasn’t met
with Twitter.
“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?” he asked.
“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.”
On June 4, the federal government announced the indefinite
suspension of Twitter’s operations in Nigeria.
Although the suspension came hours after a tweet by
President Muhammadu Buhari was deleted, the federal government said the
decision was as a result of “the persistent use of the platform for activities
that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.
Recently, the federal government said it is in talks with
the microblogging platform, adding that the suspension will be lifted soon.
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