Nigeria Reportedly Meets With China To Discuss Regulating Access To Social Media, VPNs, And Other Services
Nigeria reportedly meets with China to discuss regulating access to social media, VPNs, and other services
Only two days after Twitter was banned, the Nigerian Federal Government is reportedly attempting to regain control over what Nigerians can access on the Internet.
According to reports by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), the Nigerian Presidency has contacted China's Cyberspace Administration (CAC) to discuss plans to construct an internet firewall.
In addition, Ibrahim Gambari, the President's Chief of Staff, and Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, were present at the meeting, according to Fij.
The Internet Firewall will be comparable to China's Great Firewall, which enables the Chinese government to block access to social media platforms such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram, and Whatsapp, among others.
China's Firewall's sophistication also enables the government to prevent citizens from using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).
Recall that the Nigerian government imposed a Twitter ban on June 4, 2021, claiming that the platform jeopardizes the country's corporate existence. Likewise, the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) was tasked with licensing over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as YouTube, Netflix, and other social media platforms.
The Nigerian government has previously flirted with this idea. The Nigerian Communications Commission already has a framework in place to regulate OTT platforms, claiming they are detrimental to telco revenue.
Nigerian lawmakers introduced two highly contentious and widely condemned bills in 2019: the Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulation and Other Related Offences bill (Social Media Bill) and the National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speech bill.
Nigeria's Finance Act 2020 also includes a provision requiring tech giants such as Google and Facebook to pay taxes on revenue generated in the country.
However, we raised a significant issue: a dearth of technical expertise necessary to impose regulations on or collect taxes from OTT platforms.
If the Nigerian Internet Firewall is implemented, Internet censorship, social media regulation, and taxation of Nigerians may become possible.
Interestingly, China would also include Nigeria on a list of African countries where it maintains a sizable but dubious presence. Huawei contributed to the design of the African Union's (AU) headquarters in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, but the US accused China of stealing data from the AU headquarters, according to Le Monde (in French, use Chrome to translate).
Accusation Aganist Huawei
Huawei was also accused of assisting the governments of Uganda and Zambia in spying on opposition parties.
Nigeria's debt to China increased 136 percent between September 2015 and September 2020, from $1.4 billion to $3.3 billion, according to data from Nigeria's Debt Management Office.
A sizable portion of that debt is made up of a $328 million loan for the installation of fiber optic cables in Northern Nigeria.
As a result, Nigeria's growing partnership with China may encompass much more than the construction of an Internet firewall.
This is a developing story.
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