Nigeria in talks with Twitter over ban as it meets US officials in Abuja

Nigerian officials and U.S diplomatic officials met on Monday over the former’s ban on Twitter in the country. The suspension of the social media giant has sparked global outcry over what they call a threat to freedom of expression. Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama said Africa’s most populous nation is concerned about the platform being ‘’used for destabilization.’’ “Why we’ve taken this measure is to see to what extent we can rebalance these media as forces of good and stop them being used as platforms for destabilization”, Onyeama said. Twitter has yet to official comment on the ban, but says it was ”deeply concerned” about the suspension of its services in the country, and that it would work “to restore access for all”. At Monday’s meeting, US Ambassador to Nigeria Mary Beth Leonard said the diplomatic community was firm in its position. “[We] recognize that there are issues of responsible use of social media but we remain firm on our position that free access to the ability to express oneself is actually very important”, the US Ambassador to Nigeria said. Nigeria has said it was in talks with Twitter after it suspended its services in the Africa’s most populous nation.…
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