Unintended Consequences Of The Twitter Ban In Nigeria: A Scholarly Review

The free nature of the social media has often resulted in their misuse. These media have grown beyond censorship and control and so, users –especially the youths sometimes use them negatively. Social media have at some point been used to mobilise citizens for mass protests in different parts of the world. One of such protests was the #EndSARS protest in Nigeria which led to loss of lives and massive destruction of properties that left indelible marks in the footprints of time. To forestall such occurrences, the federal government of Nigeria which had become critical of social media use for anti-government protestations in one of her moves to regulate the social media placed a ban on the use of Twitter in Nigeria. This paper presents a scholarly review of the causes and consequences of the Twitter ban in Nigeria. The authors argue that the ban on Twitter had tremendous implications for the development and sustainability of free speech which is a key component of democracy. The paper further examines the unintended consequences of the ban on Nigeria as a whole. It concludes that the Twitter ban rather than stifle free speech, gave users alternative means of expression which attracted negative consequences to the credibility of the present administration. It further strengthened the growing critical mass of Nigeria’s digital constituency that has become the voice of emancipation of the populace.