By Jenifer James
The Director General of the National Communication Authority has defended the decision to suspend Facebook and TikTok, citing concerns over the spread of inflammatory content during recent protests.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, the Director General of the National Communication Authority, Napoleon Adok Gai, said the authorities invoked Sections 9(g)(i) and 34(6) of the National Communication Act of 2012 to justify the action.
According to the authority, the past three days have seen nationwide protests that led to looting and attacks on national institutions, adding that although the situation has been contained, some social media platforms continued to circulate harmful content.
‘’Our directive was to suspend the Facebook and TikTok pictures, especially not the entire social media; we all understand that social media is much more bothersome than those two, but we target those two applications because they have the highest volume of video sharing in the country for this sensitive period where our people are going through, of course this decision did not go very well with the number of the public we have taken note of, expressed by concerned citizens and stakeholders, including human rights, who also agree with us, the measure to tackle how to deal with these videos that are circulating.’’ Napoleon
According to Napoleon, initially, the suspension was set for 30 days, but officials suggest it could be lifted sooner if platform operators comply.
‘’And as such, even though we have set the date for 30 days, it means that with this complaint, there is a possibility we can lift the ban on these two social media platforms within the next 72 hours.’’ Napoleon
The National Communication Authority (NCA), the country’s telecommunication regulator, announced that the ban would be effective for up to three months, starting Wednesday night.