Twitter Takes Down Buhari’s Tweet

Twitter has deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet, on the grounds that it violates Twitter regulations. The entire thread wasn’t deleted, only the last tweet, which was deemed threatening and expressive of genocidal intents. The deleted tweet read: “Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”

After the tweet was made yesterday, Tuesday, Nigerians reported it en masse. Many users tagged the application’s CEO, Jack, asking that Buhari’s Twitter account be suspended. Now that the tweet has been taken down, Nigerians remain unsatisfied. For many, it is seen as a step in the right direction, but they still want Buhari’s account suspended.

Several people have referenced the suspension of the former American president, Donald Trump, from Twitter. According to them, Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter for making less aggravating statements. For the record, the tweets on which Donald Trump’s Twitter account was suspended are:

1. “The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!”
2. “To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”

The social media platform said that Trump’s tweets “must be read in the context of broader events in the country” after the storming of the White House. They believed in the ability of seemingly innocent language, to incite violence. They said: “After assessing the language in these Tweets against our Glorification of Violence policy, we have determined that these Tweets are in violation of the Glorification of Violence Policy and the user @realDonaldTrump should be immediately permanently suspended from the service.”

In the context of Buhari’s tweet, the same can be said. Reading into the broader context of the ongoings in the country, it is quite possible to say that the president does not pose an idle threat. Also, his use of language is more obviously violent and the intentions behind them, more transparent. On these grounds, it makes absolute sense for Nigerians to make this demand. However, whether or not Twitter will actually suspend @Mbuhari remains to be seen.