Twitter, Facebook Undecided On Nigeria FG’s Licensing Order As Losses Rise
As the suspension of Twitter gets into the 2nd week, the Federal Government is yet to launch prerequisites for the reversal of the indefinite suspension no matter claiming to be in talks with the social media company.
While the Federal Government plans to implement the licensing of over-the-top (OTT) players, it seems such a pass is not a precedence for players. The Guardian learnt at the weekend that the players, which includes Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, Koo and Twitter would possibly snub the Federal Government’s move, as they preface OTT operators in the meantime.
A senior authentic of Facebook, who spoke anonymously with The Guardian at the weekend, stated the social media platform is not responding to issues as regards licensing and registering of Facebook in Nigeria.
“If it is to reply to why we deleted President Buhari’s post, yes, we can reply to that, which we have been doing. Such posts negate the concepts of Facebook. But whether we are coming to register formally here, we are not responding to that, at least for now,” the authentic said.
Last year, Facebook introduced plans for an office in Nigeria, which was to be located in the commercial and tech hub of Lagos. But 5 years after the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced equal plans in the course of his visit to the country, the tech giant has made no further move on it.
The office vicinity is anticipated to be secured and become operational by the 2nd 1/2 of 2021. During the stated period, though not confirmed, the company may start the recruitment of a team of engineers, sales, partnership, policy, communication professionals and register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).