The Federal Government on Monday issued new regulations for Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms to operate in Nigeria.
The spokesperson for the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Hadiza Umar, who announced the new guidelines in a statement in Abuja, said they were designed to protect Nigerians and foreigners living in the country as well as define guidelines for interaction on the digital platforms.
The new regulations demands that online platforms register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and appoint a designated country representative to interface with Nigerian authorities.
It also stipulated that they comply with all regulatory demands and applicable tax obligations on its operations under Nigerian law.
The statement read, “For moderation of content, the internet platforms are to provide a comprehensive compliance mechanism to avoid publication of prohibited contents and unethical behaviour on their platform.
“They will provide information to authorities on harmful accounts, suspected botnets, troll groups, and other coordinated disinformation networks and delete any information that violates Nigerian law within an agreed time.
“The new rules are developed in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), as well as input from Interactive Computer Service Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Google, and Tik Tok amongst others.”
The development is coming barely a year after President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration suspended Twitter from June 2021 to January 2022, over alleged use of the microblogging platform for unacceptable activities.
