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In a landmark ruling that further weakens Nigerian government’s argument for banning Twitter, the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has held that government cannot prosecute Twitter users.
This is happening in a week the federal government finally agreed to dialogue with the micro blogging site and has announced a team of ministers to meet Twitter.
Interference with Twitter is interference with human rights – Court
In its ruling the Court says: “Any interference with Twitter is viewed as interference with human rights, and that will violate human rights.”
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Government banned all operations of Twitter in the country in early June drawing the ire of human local activists, professional bodies including the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and the international community. But millions of Nigerians have continued to use the social media site through virtual private networks (VPNs) in defiance of government threat to arrest and prosecute Twitter users in the country.
By mid-June, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), a local rights group leading several other groups, challenge the ban as both unconstitutional and an infringement of citizens right to free expression in the ECOWAS Court of Justice.
The Court agreed. It therefore, “restrained the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and its agents from unlawfully imposing sanctions or doing anything whatsoever to harass, intimidate, arrest or prosecute Twitter and/or any other social media service provider(s), media houses, radio and television broadcast stations, the plaintiffs and other Nigerians who are Twitter users, pending the hearing and determination of this suit” – SERAP quoted the Court as saying.
