Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and others were handed the code by the Nigeria National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
The code was formulated as part of the agreement after the face-off between Twitter and the Federal Government. The code also contains terms to operations for their operations as Interactive Computer Service Platforms and Internet Intermediaries.
The conditions include registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the appointment of a country representative and compliance with all tax obligations. The code and conditions were released by the Nigeria National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). The code was necessitated by the Federal Government/Twitter faceoff over a year ago.
The row began when Twitter deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s comment on the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the Southeast. Buhari had in the tweet, said that separatist agitators would be treated in the language they understand.
The government took offence at Twitter’s actions and accused Twitter of double standards. It said that the same platform was being used by IPOB to cause disaffection amongst the people and abuse its officials.
The government consequently suspended Twitter operations in Nigeria. Following leading public outcry, the government opened negotiations with the microblogging platform and promised to come up with a code to guide the operations of such sites in the country.
NITDA, in a statement by its Head of Corporate Communications and External Relations, Hadiza Umar, explained that rule was issued in line with Section 6 of the NITDA Act 2007. The section empowers the agency to standardise, coordinate and develop regulatory frameworks for all Information Technology (IT) practices in the country. The agency explained that the draft code is available on https://nitda.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Code-of-Practice.pdf for review and comments from the public.
THE NATION
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