In just three days of shutting down the social network Twitter (Friday, Saturday, Sunday), Nigeria has lost more than $ 15 million, according to a study by NetBlocks, a cybersecurity and internet governance watchdog.
According to the platform, a one-day Internet blackout would cost Nigeria 48.596 billion naira ($ 119 million) in economic terms. The country, she points out, would lose 10.885 billion naira ($ 27 million) per day if WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter were all shut down.
Netblock said that aside from the financial implications, the Nigerian government’s directive is fundamentally an affront to Nigerians’ rights to freedom of expression.
“We must also remember that Twitter has gone beyond a source of communication for many of our young workers in Nigeria. It has become a source of livelihood for many, regardless of their political affiliations or religious tendencies. Nigerian youth and digital communications organizations make a living being able to use the platform to post communications on behalf of their clients, ”Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State said in his speech this weekend.
As a reminder, Nigeria announced Friday, June 4, the closure of Twitter “for an indefinite period”. This two days after the social network deleted a message from its president, Muhammadu Buhari.
