This Lingering Ban on Twitter: Severing the Head to Cure Severe Headache

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Twitter ban to be lifted soon ― FG - Vanguard News

It is about three months since the announcement of the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria took effect, beginning on June 5, 2021, precisely. The announcement shocked most Nigerians, with many left to rationalize the implication of the move on Nigeria and Nigerians. The announcement caused a global stir. The international community also expressed strong condemnation of the issue. It is quite disturbing that the issue has lingered to date. This ban has been seen as an infringement on the freedom of speech and expression and an act of dictatorship and tyranny.

The far-reaching implication of this lingering move is best captured by the President of the Advertising Agencies Association of Nigeria (AAAN), Steve Babaeko who took to his Twitter handle when it happened to post, “The cure for a severe headache just can’t be the severance of the head,” when news broke out that the Federal Government was going for a Twitter ban in Nigeria.

But, the ‘severance of the head’ happens to be the case here, given that in solving a perceived problem, much bigger ones have been created. Already, the suspension has created a market access gap for millions of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) that use the platform to reach their customers. This could potentially complicate the challenges COVID-19 and other structural defects had imposed on businesses. Also affected is the e-commerce market in the country, estimated at $12 billion.

According to NetBlocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cyber-security and governance of the Internet, each hour of the social media gagging costs Nigeria about $250,000 (N102.5 million), bringing the daily loss to N2.5 billion. It means the economy would have lost approximately N7.5 billion in the first three days. In the longer term, the ban could seriously harm Nigeria’s ability to attract investment to its otherwise promising digital economy, as investors may turn to other markets without the threat of sudden regulatory disruptions to the digital economy.

For this industry, the damage goes beyond money, considering that as a social media platform, Twitter has played a significant role in the marketing strategies of brands and businesses. Among many benefits is its influence in increasing brand awareness, reaching and engaging a target audience and pushing general brand growth. Aside from WhatsApp, the most used platform in Nigeria with over 90 million users, users of other social media platforms are over 33 million. Twitter currently ranks as the second most used platform in Nigeria after Facebook, with over 39 million accounts.

At a TVC Breakfast show, Babaeko captured the damage to the industry: “A sizable portion of the youth population earn their livelihood off Twitter, some simply by being attack dogs or mouthpiece for politicians and the government. Clearly, income for those youths will be lost no thanks to the ban. A chunk of media spend happens on Twitter, the media agencies and digital agencies will also lose money. Unemployment among the youth segment currently stands at about 35%, depending on which state of the federation you are looking at, the Crypto and Twitter ban will only exacerbate the unemployment situation. An idle hand they say is the devil’s workshop.

, “The cure for a severe headache just can’t be the severance of the head,” says Steve Babaeko, President, AAAN.

“The Nigerian Government’s Twitter ban has cost the country N6billion in just three days of the ban. A single-day total internet outage would cost the country N48.596 billion economic value while Nigeria will lose N10.885 billion per day if WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter are all shut down.”

A sizable portion of the youth population earn their livelihood off Twitter, some simply by being attack dogs or mouthpiece for politicians and the government. Clearly, income for those youths will be lost no thanks to the ban. A chunk of media spend happens on Twitter, the media agencies and digital agencies will also lose money.

What does the ban further mean for brands and digital agencies? It has also led to a reduction in customer support workflow. Twitter is a conversation-driven platform and is the primary platform where people make complaints and discussions about brands. As a result, Twitter has been tagged a common media channel for customer support workflow. Users who experience challenges with a brand’s products usually quickly get help through the brand’s Twitter page. From observation, it has even been established that brand-related challenges are solved on Twitter quicker and faster, as brands understand the potentially disastrous implications of having negative mentions in posts and comments or trending for the wrong reasons.

With Twitter being a conversation-driven platform, pop culture and trends are usually generated, talked about and even expanded. As a result, many brands can incorporate these trends into their strategy, which further helps their engagement with the public, creating greater awareness and ultimately leading to more sales. But with the ban, this is no longer possible, at least by Twitter.

Also, in the past, brands have leveraged banter in driving awareness, engagement, and brand support in the Nigerian digital landscape. However, with the ban in place, brands and businesses are no longer allowed to engage their customers through Twitter. Thus, new products or services may not generate the level of awareness and engagement they deserve. 

For a platform like Twitter, where algorithms have never been a defining factor to determine success, this ban has affected a vital channel in marketing a business or service. Influencers did not have to sponsor posts to get people to interact with their content; all they had to do was create quality content that resonated with people. With businesses, the same issue arose. Twitter is a platform where content travels without little to no financial push. 

Additionally, SMEs and Influencers thrive on the current happenings of society. They do what is called ‘social listening’ before making important decisions regarding their content. For many SMEs and influencers, a platform like Twitter was one of the easiest and fastest ways to access information. Trend lists helped people discover hot topics or trends that appealed to the taste of their target audience within their geographical area. With this ban, however, such information is not easily accessible.

The ban has also led to a hiccup in building trust and loyalty among consumers. Due to the transparent nature of the platform, Twitter has become a great way to verify if a person or business is genuine. A quick search through their timeline or previous conversations can quickly help decide whether a person or service is legit. With the ban, consumers are becoming less explorative and holding back from taking a chance on up-and-coming businesses and influencers. 

The suspension may not have a direct impact on the telecoms industry but would hurt the MSMEs that need daily or constant access to reach the market.

Besides the above, some stakeholders have captured the effect of the ban on the general economy. Olusola Teniola, Nigeria Coordinator, Alliance for Affordable Internet said: “The suspension may not have a direct impact on the telecoms industry but would hurt the MSMEs that need daily or constant access to reach the market. The best guess is that an opportunity exists for MSMEs to the tune of possibly $1.2 billion per year, which inevitably creates new wealth, productivity and youth employment.”

The Chairman, Mobile Software Solution, Nigeria, Chris Uwaje, said the ban would bring a monumental economic dis-function, with the capability to fuel more unemployment, whose disaster recovery damages will cost a long time to amend. Uwaje, who said it is reasonable to ask if the ban would include Nigerians in the Diaspora, explained that the issue at stake is multi-dimensional.

According to him, the government is confronted with the challenge of being in confrontation with the Big-tech, which owns the know-how, global infrastructure and intellectual property of digital innovation and a consumer from a third world country without adequate capability.

Uwaje said next-generation technologies are so powerful with the potential ability to do massive damage to their consumers, adding that ICT-wise, in the long term, the shutdown can delay the development of Nigeria’s digital ecosystem, where the conflict may lead to targeted massive cyber-attacks on Nigeria, with greater consequences.

ALTON supports NCC on 5G deployment but challenges persist - Adebayo
“Suspending Twitter will raise some questions about Nigeria, especially from investors, who will be wondering and disturbed by what is happening in a country like Nigeria,” says Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms of Nigeria (ALTON).

On his part, the Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, said, Ideally, social media platforms have free entry and exit for businesses and individuals. Suspending Twitter will raise some questions about Nigeria, especially from investors, who will be wondering and disturbed by what is happening in a country like Nigeria. So, it will have a negative impact on investments and investors.

“But if government’s consideration is for national security, it means that we can only talk about buoying investment when there is national security. But where security is missing, investors too may not come. In essence, it is more important that we solve our internal problems much more than having to create more issues for ourselves as a nation at this time.”

Thankfully, the ban on Twitter does not completely capture the finality and helplessness that comes with the severance of the head. Apparently, it’s a suspension which can be lifted. It behooves the government to listen to the call to negotiate the return of the microblogging site for the growth of the economy as well as the industry. 

The nation should start to reconsider the redesign of its digital ecosystem in expectation of more digital investment migration by funding strategic research in digital transformation and building future skills and capabilities.

Fortunately, digital agencies and professionals do not have to rely on using the Twitter platform alone as they now have the opportunity to further explore other avenues of generating buzz, engagement and top of mind awareness for the brands under their portfolio.

The nation should start to reconsider the redesign of its digital ecosystem in expectation of more digital investment migration by funding strategic research in digital transformation and building future skills and capabilities.

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