Daily US Times: Twitter is under siege in two countries that are crucial for its global growth plans.
The company has been ensnared in a battle with the government of India for months over free speech and other issues, and is contending with restrictive new rules pushed by New Delhi. If that was not enough, even more dramatic events are unfolding thousands of miles away along Africa’s Western coast, Nigeria.
Last week, Nigheria “indefinitely” blocked the social media giant after the company deleted a post from President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened a brutal clampdown on unrest in Africa’s most populous nation.
The Nigerian government also ordered federal prosecutors to arrest people who uses the app.
The ban in Nigeria and the restrictions in India are troublesome for Twitter as both of the countries are critical for its growth plans. While the company does not break down user data for India and Nigeria, independent research suggests India is among its top five markets. With 700 million internet users and many more yet to come online — Asia’s third-largest economy is also Twitter’s top growth market. Meanwhile, nearly 20% of Nigeria’s population of 200m have Twitter accounts, according to NOI Polls.
Now that Nigeria has shown it is not afraid to ban Twitter, some worry India might be next if the tussle between Indian government and the company can’t be resolved.
internet activist Nikhil Pahwa, the Delhi-based founder of tech website MediaNama, tweeted: “If this continues, the Indian government’s China Envy will become Nigeria Envy.”
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