Nigeria: Federal government releases code of practice for various social media sites

The federal government in Nigeria has released the code of practice for social media sites, saying that they have a country representative.

The federal government in Nigeria has released the code of practice for social media sites, saying that they have a country representative.

This was disclosed by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), which stated that interactive computer service platforms as well as Internet intermediaries are needed to fulfil particular conditions in operating their services in Nigeria.

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The regulation has been released by Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) after a six-month ban on Twitter.

Before the upliftment of the ban on Twitter, the Nigerian government stated Twitter agreed to five conditions it is levying on other social media platforms.

The conditions are mentioned in the recently released Code of Practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms/Internet Intermediaries (online platforms), as per a statement issued by NITDA on Monday, 13 June.

A part of the issued statement reads, “NITDA wants to deliver to the public a Code of Practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms/Internet Intermediaries for forthcoming review and input.”

The Code of Practice was set in place by the NITDA in partnership with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) as well as the National Broadcasting Commission (NCC), with input from platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Google, Instagram and Tik Tok.

One of the conditions that were mentioned in the Code of Practice is that every platform should have a nation representative who will interact with the Nigerian officials.

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The significance of the above is that Facebook, Twitter, TikTik, and many others are needed to have country representatives.

Other conditions that are listed are registering with the Corporate Affairs Commission as a legal entity, conceding with tax obligations and abiding by the regulatory and legal demands.

NITDA spokesperson Hadiza Umar in a statement stated the code was devised to safeguard the “fundamental human rights of Nigerians and non-Nigerians residing in the country as well as define guidelines for interacting in the digital ecosystem.”

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