Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Sep 11, 2026

‘You couldn’t make it up if you tried’: Twitter censors at home, but calls access to platform a ‘human right’ in Nigeria

‘You couldn’t make it up if you tried’: Twitter censors at home, but calls access to platform a ‘human right’ in Nigeria

Twitter is very concerned about its recent blocking in Nigeria, calling the free and open internet an “essential human right.” Back in the US, commentators pointed out, Twitter doesn’t care as much about this “right.”

Nigeria’s government “indefinitely” banned Twitter on Friday, after the US tech giant temporarily suspended President Muhammadu Buhari for a tweet promising a crackdown on armed separatists. Telecoms networks in the West African nation began enforcing the ban on Saturday morning, according to multiple media reports.

“We are deeply concerned by the blocking of Twitter in Nigeria,” the company stated on Saturday. “Access to the free and #OpenInternet is an essential human right in modern society.”

Twitter added that it would “work to restore access for all those in Nigeria who rely on Twitter to communicate and connect with the world.”


However Twitter’s recent actions in the US reveal a corporation much less concerned with its users’ ability to “communicate with the world” – especially if those users challenge the Democrat-supporting, Silicon Valley orthodoxy. Twitter’s executives used to describe the platform as “the free speech wing of the free speech party,” but bans and suspensions are now a threat to users posting “misinformation” – to be understood as content that challenges the liberal media consensus, or harms the political goals of the Democratic Party.

Donald Trump, while still the sitting president of the US, found himself booted indefinitely from Twitter in January after his supporters rioted on Capitol Hill, and merely posting the ex-president’s statements can now incur deletions and suspensions.

With Twitter apparently happy to play censor at home, conservatives and opponents of Big Tech scoffed at the company’s professed commitment to openness in Nigeria. “Man,” former Republican Congressional candidate Joshua Foxworth tweeted, “you have to admire the sheer cognitive dissonance here.”




Nigeria isn’t the only country that’s been treated by Twitter to a sermon on openness and freedom in recent months. When Russian regulators slowed down traffic to the platform in March, in response to violations of Russian law, Twitter complained that Russia was attempting “to block and throttle online public conversation.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Merz Rebukes AfD Expansion in Saxony-Anhalt
OpenAI Unveils GPT-6 and Says: "We May Already Have Reached AGI"
Congressman Accused Andrew of Sex Crimes in the United States
Donald Trump: "I'm Glad Harry and Meghan Left the United States"
Spicy Food Is Linked to Lower Death Risk — but It Is Not a Miracle Cure
AfD Enters Saxony-Anhalt Election at 41% in Historic Test for German Politics
Gen Z Turns to Investing as America's First-Home Dream Moves Further Out of Reach
TSA Unveils Major Airport-Security Overhaul as It Drops Gold+ Privatization Plan
CIA Chief Warned Russia Against Attacking NATO in Secret Moscow Mission
Raheem Sterling Charged With Dangerous Driving After Lamborghini Crash
The Secret Dolly Parton Kept Until Her Death: "She Was Much Sicker Than She Let On"
Glacier Collapse, Not Earthquake, Triggered Deadly Nepal-Tibet Flood
Turnbull Warns AUKUS Could Leave Australia Without Promised Nuclear Submarines
California Billionaires Pour More Than $150 Million Into Fight Over Proposed Wealth Tax
German Broadcaster Goes Dark to Warn AfD Could End Its Saxony-Anhalt Service
Badenoch Plans Major Shadow Cabinet Reshuffle as Tories Struggle in Third Place
Prime Minister Andy Burnham to Give Ukraine Classified Storm Shadow Blueprints for Domestic Missile Production
UK Graduate Job Vacancies Plunge 45% to Lowest Levels on Record
Iranian Hackers Shut Down British Power Plant for Four Days in Landmark Cyber Attack
Novak Djokovic Reveals Relentless Self-Doubt and Rejects Retirement in New Documentary
Trump Imposes 50% Tariffs on Canadian Goods After Bilateral Trade Talks Collapse
Australia Combines Indigenous Fire Knowledge With Satellite Tech to Combat Catastrophic Wildfires
Father and Son Jailed in Scotland Over £900,000 Airport Cannabis Smuggling Operation
UK Fraud Reports Surge Sevenfold as Criminals Exploit QR Codes in Parking Meters and Phishing Emails
Brighton Thrash Aston Villa in Four-Goal Opening Half as Manchester City Trail Bournemouth
Erin Patterson Appeals Triple Murder Convictions After Hotel Mixed Sequestered Jury With Prosecution
The rise and fall of Hui Ka Yan, China’s richest man
Woke: Britain Considers Plain Packaging for Cigars as Specialist Shops Warn of Industry Collapse
Britain's Public-Service Productivity Remains Below 2019 as £80 Billion Output Gap Fuels WFH Debate
Mandelson Epstein Case in Jeopardy as U.S. Files Stay Out of Reach
Prince Harry and Six Others Ordered to Pay £9.5 Million After High Court Defeat
Petrol Bombs Set Luxury Cars Alight Outside Birmingham Wedding as Police Hunt Three Men
Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Ignite Crypto Rally
Twenty-Nine US States Take Meta to Trial Over Alleged Child Addiction on Instagram and Facebook
Former Scottish National Party Executive Peter Murrell Jailed for Five Years Over £400,000 Embezzlement
Moderna and Merck's Personalized Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Historic Late-Stage Melanoma Trial
Prince Harry and Meghan to Move Back to Britain With Their Children
England and Wales Have Fewer Than 1,800 Prison Places Left for Men
Suspected People Smuggler Arrested After Investigation Identified Him
Children's Doctors Warn That Vaping Can Lead Young People to Smoking
Hundreds of Thousands of Students Receive GCSE and Vocational Results Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Here Is What Can Never Happen in Your Country: Taiwan Is Giving Money to All Its People Because It Collected Too Much Tax
UK Inflation Rises to 2.9% as Energy Bills Jump
UK Issues New Conduct Guide for Asylum Seekers on Consent and Respect
A Sleepless Night on Wall Street: Nasdaq to Begin Nearly Round-the-Clock Trading
"The First in the World": 69-Year-Old Protested Artificial Intelligence—and Went to Jail
Ukraine's Ousted Defence Minister Calls for Wartime Presidential Election
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
×