Nigerian authorities have urged Google to block the Youtube channels, and live streams by those groups and terrorist organisations which are banned in the country, said Information Minister Lai Mohammed on Thursday, August 4.
Nigeria has been looking for ways to restrain the usage of social media in Africa’s most populous nation.
The nation is home to thousands and hundreds of internet users, and social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Tiktok are famous.
Mohammed stated that he told Google executives in Abuja that Youtube channels and emails which have names of banned groups and their companions must be banned from Google platforms.
Sub-Saharan African director, government affairs and public policy of Google, Charles Murito, in a statement, stated that the company already has measures to address the concerns of the Nigerian government.
These measures comprise of a system for trained users to flag content which seems to be troublesome.
Murito stated, “We share the exact goals and objectives. We don’t want our social media platform to be used for ill meanings.”
The minister stated that the government was especially worried due to online activities by the IPOB – Indigenous People of Biafra. The Nigerian government has labelled the IPOB group, a group campaigning for the secession of a southeastern region of Nigeria, as a terrorist organisation.
The Youtube troubles are part of a measure by the government, said the minister, to safeguard Nigerian internet users from the harmful impacts that social media has on their minds and lives, particularly before the presidential election in 2023.
Earlier also, in June 2021, Nigeria suspended Twitter and blocked access to users after the social media platform removed a post from President Muhammadu Buhari, intimidating to punish regional secessionists. After six months, the ban was uplifted by the government.
