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Nigerian Govt Wants Separatists Curtailed On Social Media

In a recent meeting with Facebook employees in Abuja, Nigeria's Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed urged Facebook and other platforms  to stop allowing the the spread of destabilisation in the country, referring to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) whom the minister said, uses Facebook in particular, to "incite violence and instigate ethnic hatred in Nigeria."  The Nigerian government has classified IPOB as a terrorist organisation.

"For whatever reason, they seem to have now chosen Facebook as their platform of choice. And their tools include disinformation, incendiary statements, and hate speech," the minister said.

A BBC investigation found that a network of Nigerian separatists based outside the country is using social media to call for violence and incite ethnic hatred against opponents of Biafran independence.

InFocus

Dima Solomin / Unsplash

(file photo).

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