When I wrote about the internet and specifically eCommerce as a revolution to economic development as my final year research project as part of the requirement for the award of BSc Equivalent degree in 2001, not in any way did I think about the impact of the internet on social and political issues. Today with more knowledge about how the internet can impact individuals and business, I realized that the social influence powered the business side of the internet that leads to economic development.
The internet in the last 20 years has changed the way we work, do business and relate but the one that makes others possible is the social (relate) aspect of the internet.
The internet gave birth to social media which make a gathering in thousands and millions possible all around the world. Just like any other thing, there is pros and cons. At least there are;
- More information than necessary at our fingertips
- Learning made possible at a go
- Starting a business and making money became possible with fewer resources
- Cross border personal and business relationships
- And ultimately open criticism of leadership and governance among others.
We’ve seen how the government are been criticize around the world, at the same time we’ve seen how this open criticism has fueled public unrest that leads the government to decide for their citizens human right. This same scenario is what happens in Nigeria on Friday, June 4, 2021, when the Nigeria government blocked Twitter, a microblogging social media for deleting a tweet by Nigeria president Muhammad Buhari that was considered a violation of the company “abusive” behaviour policy and further suspended the president tweet account.
There are several opinions over this irrational decision by the government authorities which most was centred on violation of the citizens' human rights. Several other opinions show their concern over the negative and positive effect of this decision economically. While the tech giant will be losing millions of dollar in revenue, many Nigerians and companies will also be losing several thousands of dollars daily and this could also worsen the current economic situation of Nigeria that is begging for recovery.
Not all opinion that is against the Nigeria authority, many praised the decision as a checkmate against tech giant’s tyranny. Another version of the positive opinion in support of the Nigeria authority think Twitter deserve the suspension because they choose to established in a neighbouring country with less than 5 million subscribers paying tax while passing across all sort of humiliation to Nigeria and it’s authority even though it’s enjoying more revenue from over 40 million subscribers from the country. Such opinion concludes that if the company establishes in Nigeria, it will not choose to support any activities and take a decision that will fuel public unrest because such will directly affect its resources and revenue and of course they never expect such a decision from Nigeria authority. Neutrally, some group think this is an opportunity for Africa and Nigeria Techpreneur to develop such a typical platform since we are yet to have such a global social media platform own by African.
During the #ENDSARS protest – a youth protest supported by a majority in Nigeria against police brutality, not only that Twitter indirectly supported the movement by not banning or deleting a tweet or hashtag related to the protest, even do Nigeria Authority calls for it, the founder directly donated cash to support it. This, the majority think is the reason behind the Nigerian authority decision.
My personal opinion aside from that of for or against general opinions is similar to those who think the suspension of Twitter is an opportunity for local techpreneur and developers. More than just that, it’s an opportunity for our economic development as we all know that exportation and importation have much effect on economic boom and doom.
According to BBC, “China is the world's biggest social media market, but with access to websites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube blocked in the country, most people can only use domestic social media sites such as Weibo, Renren and YouKu.”
The china economy is been praised all over the world but many decision by the country authorities that is criticized contributed immensely to this development. Many of these social media and tech giants make millions and billions of revenue without their presence and never contributed in any significant way to compensate the economy.
Either for or against, the truth is still that the decision is irrational and for personal rather than for the interest of the country, its citizen or economy since the tweet that is the subject of this development is of course against the peaceful coexistence of the nation and not just fuel public unrest but is related by experts to a statement that will lead to civil war.
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