IMPACT OF TWITTER BAN ON CORRUPTION GROWTH IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

The suspension of Twitter by the Muhammadu Buhari government, ordering the government to desist from such an illegal act in the future.The court ruled that suspending the operations of Twitter is unlawful and inconsistent with the provisions of Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which Nigeria is a state party, according to a statement by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).SERAP and 176 concerned Nigerians had filed the suit to challenge the suspension of Twitter’s operations in Nigeria in June last year.The ban came after Twitter deleted a tweet by Mr Buhari.

The Nigerian government and officials of Twitter held talks which led to the lifting of the suspension in January this year, ending the ban that lasted about seven months.While the talks were going on, the Nigerian government locked horns with SERAP and 176 others in a legal battle at the ECOWAS Court.SERAP and the other plaintiffs alleged in the suit that the ban on Twitter violated their various right to freedom of expression and others.

The Nigerian government, on its part, urged the court to dismiss the suit, saying the regional court lacked the jurisdiction to hear it.But the ECOWAS Court, in its judgement, on Thursday, affirmed it had jurisdiction to entertain the suit.The Buhari administration in suspending the operations of Twitter violates the rights of SERAP and 176 concerned Nigerians to the enjoyment of freedom of expression, access to information and the media, as well as the right to fair hearing,” the court held. The court also ordered the Buhari administration to take necessary steps to align its policies and other measures to give effect to the rights and freedoms, and to guarantee a non-repetition of the unlawful ban on Twitter.The Court also ordered the Buhari administration to bear the costs of the proceedings and directed the Deputy Chief Registrar to assess the costs accordingly

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1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Twitter is an external aspect in battling corruption in contemporary cultures. They have the potential to be a system of checks and balances. Twitter, as a fourth estate, monitors adherence to democratic laws, ideals, and norms. However, unlike the three institutionalized authorities (legislative, executive, and judicial organizations), Twitter has no legal ways of sanctioning corrupt public officials’ actions; as a result, they exercise public control in an indirect manner (Stapenhurst, 2000).Corruption is a worldwide issue that has negative consequences for economic growth, political stability, and social integration (Hellman, Jones, Kaufmann, & Schankerman, 1999). Corruption is defined by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP, 2008) as the “misuse of entrusted authority for private benefit.”

First, Twitter, as watchdogs, holds politicians responsible for their activities (Norris, 2004). As a result, Twitter may assist “prosecutorial institutions by researching and publishing instances of corruption” (Camaj, 2012), resulting in official investigations and convictions of corrupt political players. Independent and critical Twitter frequently execute their job as a regulatory body more efficiently than legislative, executive, and judicial organizations when institutionalized control authorities fall victim to corruption and are unable to properly impose punishments (Stapenhurst, 2000). Vertical accountability, which Schedler (1999) defines as a control mechanism between strong superior and less powerful inferior players, is aided by Twitter’s exposure of corrupt public officials. For example, after public outrage over the Panama Papers disclosures, Iceland’s Prime Minister, Sigmundur Dav Gunnlaugsson, was compelled to resign. This incident demonstrates how Twitter may have an influence when citizens demand accountability from elected officials. Because public indignation jeopardizes elected leaders’ reputations, Twitter is more likely to influence private-to-public corruption. Private-sector actors, on the other hand, are significantly less reliant on public favor, and hence private-to-private corruption is less likely to be influenced by negative Twitter coverage (Argandoa, 2003).

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Second, Twitter strengthens checks and balances between actors with equal authority (horizontal accountability; Camaj, 2012). Journalists may boost Twitter’s efficacy in combating corruption by revealing faults in anti-corruption authorities and calling for reform of these organizations (Stapenhurst, 2000). Furthermore, Twitter coverage of control mechanism proceedings strengthens the work and legitimacy of the state’s anticorruption bodies, strengthening the political system’s institutional design, which is considered “the ultimate determinant of corruption” (Lederman, Loayza, & Soares, 2005).

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