Lai Mohammed, minister of information, has on Wednesday accused social media giant, Twitter of ‘double standards’ on issues concerning Nigeria’s domestic issues.
The allegation was made after the microblogging platform deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘civil war’ tweet that many deemed as a genocidal threat.
Read Also: Twitter Deletes Buhari’s ‘Civil War’ Tweet Threatening Arsonists In South East
The minister said Twitter ignores “hate” messages from proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) but was quick to enforce its rules on the president.
Earlier today, the social media platform deleted a tweet wherein Buhari spoke about the civil war experience and threatened to deal with those “bent on destroying” Nigeria through “insurrection”.
In the since-deleted post, Buhari stated;
Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.
However, following backlash from many Nigerians, Twitter said the message — which many had reported — violated its rules.
It did not provide further details on the action, but its policy states that such measure is sometimes taken because “the behaviour violates the Twitter rules.”
Reacting to Twitter’s action while addressing state house correspondents on Wednesday, Mohammed accused the platform of turning a blind eye on the activities of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which Federal Government have declared a terrorist organisation.
The minister expressed;
Twitter may have its own rules, it’s not the universal rule. If Mr President, anywhere in the world, feels very bad and concerned about a situation, he is free to express such views. If an organisation is proscribed, it is different from any other which is not proscribed.
He stressed;
Two, any organisation that gives directives to its members to attack police stations, to kill policemen, to attack correctional centres, to kill warders, and you are now saying that Mr President does not have the right to express his dismay and anger about that? We are the ones guilty of double standards.
I don’t see anywhere in the world where an organisation, a person will stay somewhere outside Nigeria, and will direct his members to attack the symbols of authority, the police, the military, especially when that organisation has been proscribed. By whatever name, you can’t justify giving orders to kill policemen or to kill anybody you do not agree with.
According to the Minister, while the social media giant had conveniently ignored inciting tweets by the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, and his cohorts, displaying the same biases it did during the #EndSARS protest, where government and private properties were looted and set on fire, all in the name of right to protest, it found the President’s tweets offensive.
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