The federal government has stated that it will not rest until social media is regulated, claiming that no one will be able to survive without it.
In a conversation with journalists in Washington, United States of America, USA, on Wednesday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, issued a warning.
He also refuted claims that he “sneaked out of Nigeria to meet with Twitter officials” in the US during the interview, calling it “false news.”
Recall that Twitter, a microblogging and social networking platform, was suspended by the federal government.
Lai Mohammed denied rumors that he held a secret meeting with Twitter officials on Wednesday, saying his official trip to the United States had nothing to do with the microblogging and social networking platform.
Mohammed said he was in the United States to speak with international media organizations and think tanks about President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s accomplishments and efforts to date in combating insurgency, banditry, and all forms of criminality.
His words: “When you talk about fake news and its danger, we need to take it seriously and I am happy that the entire world is now seeing what we saw more than two years ago.
“I can assure you that we will not rest until we regulate the social media, otherwise, nobody will survive it,” he said.
The minister reaffirmed that the Federal Government shut down Twitter throughout the country not because the President’s message was deleted, but because it was widely circulated in the media.
He said that the microblogging platform’s activity had been halted due to its continued use of its platform for actions that threatened Nigeria’s corporate existence.
He also stressed the importance of the organization registering as a commercial company and obtaining a license from the National Broadcasting Commission, or NBC, to conduct its operations.
