Twitter suspension: Nigerians opt for VPNs to bypass restrictions

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By Alao Abiodun

Nigerians on Saturday opted for the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to bypass restrictions due to the suspension of Twitter operations by the Federal Government in the county.

The Federal Government on Friday at about 11:59pm officially suspended operations of Twitter in the country.

It was learnt that all telecom operators were directed to deactivate twitter on their various networks early Saturday.

The Nation observed that many users complained of not being able to Tweet from their various accounts with their mobile networks.

Some others also claimed they were tweeting through Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

From the basic explanation of what VPN is, using it will help hide your internet protocol (IP) address — the unique number that identifies you and your location in the world.

Read Also: Anger as Buhari suspends Twitter operations in Nigeria

One of the benefits of using VPN is that it changes your IP address.

This implies that with a new IP address — which can be that of any country of your choice — you can use Twitter as if you’re in your selected country without restriction.

The sanction of the social media service has continued to spark widespread outrage, with many Nigerians, condemning the move.

The Nation gathered that Nigeria had about 33 million active social media users as of January 2021.

WhatsApp is the most popular platform used in the country, with over 90 million users according to Statista.

According to Statista, about 61.4 per cent of Nigerian social media users use Twitter, 86.2 percent use Facebook, 81.6 per cent use YouTube, 73.1 per cent use Instagram, and 67.2 percent use Facebook Messenger,

The Nation reports the federal government on Friday announced an indefinite suspension of the operations of Twitter, the microblogging and social networking service, in Nigeria.

The minister of information, Lai Mohammed said the suspension was hinged on “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.

Similarly, President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife, Aisha in a terse tweet around 11:59pm on Friday said, “I will be deactivating my twitter account for now. Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

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