By Juliet Umeh
Former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has defended the Federal Government’s decision to suspend Twitter, now known as X, in Nigeria, insisting the move was necessitated by the platform’s “reckless” conduct and the threat it posed to national security.
Mohammed said the suspension was not intended to silence dissenting voices but to curb the spread of fake news, hate speech and disinformation capable of undermining national unity and stability.
He made the remarks on Tuesday during an appearance on Channels Television ahead of the launch of his book, Headlines and Soundbites: Media Moments that Defined an Administration, which chronicles major communication decisions taken during the Muhammadu Buhari administration, including the controversial 2021 Twitter ban.
According to him, the government’s engagement with social media platforms over misinformation predated the suspension, noting that concerns about the dangers of an unregulated digital space were raised as far back as 2017.
“I started the campaign against fake news and disinformation in 2017. I knew the dangerous dimension it was taking. An unregulated social media space was becoming a threat to society,” Mohammed said.
He explained that despite repeated warnings, Twitter had become a preferred platform for individuals and groups seeking to inflame tensions and threaten national cohesion.
“When we suspended Twitter, it was because it was becoming reckless. We warned them several times. Social media had reached a stage where it was becoming dangerous to everybody,” he said.
Mohammed dismissed claims that the ban was a reaction to the deletion of a tweet by former President Muhammadu Buhari or an attempt to suppress opposition voices, stressing that the decision followed prolonged engagements with the platform.
“The President asked me only one question: do I think a country should do so? And I said yes, based on our discussions and the risks we were seeing,” he said.
He added that Twitter was not registered to operate in Nigeria at the time of the suspension, noting that the subsequent agreement signed with the Federal Government validated the decision.
“Twitter was not registered in Nigeria to do business. The agreement they later signed with us, which is contained in this book, is evidence that we did the right thing,” Mohammed stated.
The former minister argued that unlike traditional media, which has editorial gatekeepers, social media platforms allow unchecked content capable of inciting violence and deepening divisions.
“You must not push freedom to the extent that you set one part of the country against the other. We saw how social media was used to direct attacks on institutions,” he said, referencing court proceedings during the trial of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
Mohammed noted that Twitter’s operations were restored only after it agreed to meet government conditions, including local registration and compliance with Nigerian laws.
According to him, the book offers an insider’s account of how narratives were shaped during the Buhari administration and why certain difficult communication decisions were taken.
“This is about documenting history from an insider’s viewpoint — how decisions were made, how misinformation overshadowed facts, and how media was used to shape national narratives,” he said.
The post Lai Mohammed defends Twitter ban, says platform became ‘reckless’ appeared first on Vanguard News.
