The government of Sweden says Nigerians have a constitutional right to freedom of expression that must be respected.
The Swedish Embassy in Nigeria, which represents Sweden in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and ECOWAS, stated this in a tweet while reacting to Friday’s indefinite suspension of Twitter’s operations in Nigeria.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed had announced the indefinite suspension in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Segun Adeyemi.
“The Federal Government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria.
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“The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, citing the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.
“The Minister said the Federal Government has also directed the National Broadcasting Commission to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria,” the statement read.
The announcement attracted widespread condemnation from Nigerians and rights groups, including SERAP, which threatened legal action.
Weighing in, the Swedish Embassy wrote, “Nigerians have a constitutional right to exercise their freedom of expression and a right to access of information.
“This must be respected. Safeguarding free, independent media and civic spaces for democratic voices is an important part of Sweden’s #DriveForDemocracy #TwitterBan”
See tweet:
Nigerians have a constitutional right to exercise their freedom of expression and a right to access of information. This must be respected. Safeguarding free, independent media and civic spaces for democratic voices is an important part of Sweden’s #DriveForDemocracy #TwitterBan
— Sweden in Nigeria (@SwedeninNigeria) June 4, 2021