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| Trump praised Nigeria for banning Twitter |
Former US President Donald Trump has issued a statement in support of the Nigerian government's decision to halt Twitter platform activities in West African countries.
"Congratulations to Nigeria, because the platform blocked the head of state, it only banned Twitter," he said in the statement. The former president also encouraged other countries to follow Nigeria, banning Twitter and Facebook.
"More countries should ban Twitter and Facebook," he added. Maybe I should have done it when I was president. But Zuckerberg kept calling me and coming to the White House for dinner.
Trump's position was announced days after Nigeria suspended Twitter indefinitely on Friday.
The government issued a ruling after Twitter deleted Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's tweets that violated the policy of abuse and urged many Nigerians to delete them.
His tweets threatened to punish separatists in the southeast of the country. Although the Nigerian president later announced that the nationwide ban on Twitter was only a temporary measure to combat misinformation and fake news.
But the new guidelines show that's not the case. On Monday, the government ordered audio-visual media outlets to remove their Twitter accounts and stop using the platform as a source of information. This confirms its intention to suppress freedom of expression and impose censorship.
The guide states the following: We recommend broadcasters to remove Twitter accounts and not use the platform as a source for news gathering and display of news and programs.
Trump's question on Twitter:
Trump is not one, but two. In early January, he was permanently banned from Twitter for inciting a violent invasion of the US Capitol.
Twitter has raised concerns about the risk of further incitement to violence.
It was then suspended indefinitely via Facebook. The world's largest social network announced earlier this month its decision to reconsider Trump's two-year suspension.
By the end of that period, we are looking for experts to assess whether the risks to public safety have decreased, said Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs and communications.
We assess external factors, including incidents of violence, restrictions on peaceful assemblies, and other signs of civil unrest.
He continued, "If we find that there is still a serious public safety risk, we will extend the restriction for a period of time and continue to reassess until the risks subside."
According to Facebook, once the ban is lifted, there will be a series of severe and rapidly escalating sanctions if Trump commits more abuses in the future, including permanently deleting his pages and accounts.