Lai Mohammed, the minister of information, has asked Google to remove terrorist organizations from YouTube.
As examples of stations that disseminate subversive information/content, Lai Mohammed, who made the request when a Google team visited him in Abuja on Thursday, August 4, cited Biafra Digest TV, Umu Biafra TV, Biafra Digest, and Asa Biafra TV.
The Minister asserted that some of the networks broadcast in local languages to avoid censorship.
He said;
”We want Google to look into how to tackle the use of private and unlisted YouTube channels and YouTube live streams by proscribed groups and terrorist organisations. Channels and emails containing names of proscribed groups and their affiliates should not be allowed on Google platforms..
“Your platform is a platform of choice for IPOB, a proscribed terrorist group.
“We implore you not to make your platform available to them for their acts of violence and destabilisation.
“We hope you will cooperate with us as well as our security agencies in this direction.”
Lai Mohammed also said the government recently proposed a “Code of Practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms/ Internet Intermediaries”.
He claims that the code offers a framework for cooperatively defending Nigerian Internet platform consumers.
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He added;
“This code couldn’t have come at a better time, as the country prepares for general elections next year. We are committed to working with platforms like yours as well as the civil society, lawyers, media practitioners and other relevant stakeholders to ensure a responsible use of the Internet and to protect our people from the harmful effects of social media.”
Google Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Mr. Charles Murito, stated in his remarks that the platform has introduced a program called “Trusted Flaggers” for users who have been trained to monitor and interact with online content in order to flag items of serious concern.
He said;
“As I mentioned earlier, we share the same sentiments, we share the same goals and objectives and we do not want our platform to be used for ill purposes.”
Mr. Adewolu Adene, the Google Government Affairs and Public Policy Manager, stated that “Equiano,” a subsea cable that recently arrived in Nigeria from Portugal, is intended to improve connectivity and access to the internet as well as to lower the cost of data in order to generate revenue and facilitate the transfer of knowledge.
He declared that 30 media outlets, including the fact-checking website Dubawa, would receive a $3.2 million grant under the Google News Initiative Challenge in appreciation for their creative efforts in the information dissemination field.
The Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and Google will collaborate to digitize the recently repatriated antiquities in order to preserve them and make them available to a wider audience via Google Arts and Culture, Mr. Adene further promised.
