Nigeria lifted a seven-month ban on Twitter on Thursday, restoring access to millions of users in the country.
Twitter has removed a tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari, which was deemed to have violated the platform’s “abusive behaviour” policy.
In his post, the leader had threatened to respond to secessionists in "the language they will understand".
Two days after the tweet was deleted, Nigerian authorities announced an indefinite ban, claiming Twitter was being used “for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence".
On his part, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, who runs the country’s National Information Technology Development Agency, revealed that the ban would end following a deal to “recalibrate” his government’s relationship with Twitter.
"Twitter has agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgement of Nigerian laws and the national culture and history on which such legislation has been built,” the senior official said in a statement.
"Therefore, the (federal government) lifts the suspension of the Twitter operations in Nigeria from midnight of 13th January 2022."
Abdullahi added that the social media platform will appoint a country representative to liaise with authorities and will adhere to local tax rules, according to the agreement between the US firm and Nigeria.
BBC reported that the Nigerian government insisted that Twitter:
- Register in Nigeria
- Appoint a designated country representative
- Comply with tax obligations in Nigeria
- Enrol Nigeria in its portal for direct communications between government officials and Twitter to manage prohibited content that violates Twitter community rules
- Act with a respectful acknowledgement of Nigerian laws
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