Africa News Broadcast 
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has declared President Muhammadu Buhari’s ban on Twitter unlawful, and has ordered the government never to repeat it.
Nigeria banned Twitter in July 2021 after a tweet by President Muhammad Buhari was deleted. The controversial tweet spoke of the civil war in the southeast of the country, in which millions of people were killed. Some Nigerian Twitter users flagged the comments which Twitter said violated its rules.
The government then declared the use of the platform illegal and everyone who continued using it was at risk of arrest and prosecution. The government also ordered broadcasters to discontinue any association with the platform.
Before the ban was lifted, the government announced that Twitter had agreed to register as a corporate entity in Nigeria, among other conditions that preceded its reversal of the restriction. The ban lasted for seven months.
Following the lifting of the ban, many Nigerians are reacting in different ways, most attributing the decision to lift the ban to the upcoming general election in 2023 and the government’s intention to use the platform for its campaign.
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