‘Access Now to ECOWAS Court: overturn Nigeria’s Twitter ban’ 29 September 2021

Civil society’s fight to restore Twitter access continued in Nigeria today, as the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Court) held a hearing in the consolidated case of SERAP & Others v. Nigeria. While the Nigerian government attempted to delay the proceedings, the attorneys for the applicants successfully argued to go forward. As the government is still blocking Twitter, any delay in proceedings would have extended the online censorship. “We’re proud to see the ECOWAS Court push through with the hearing on Nigeria’s Twitter ban,” said Felicia Anthonio, Campaigner and #KeepItOn Lead at Access Now. “These proceedings are justifying civil society’s outrage at online censorship, and hopefully act as a deterrent to other governments looking to pull the same oppressive move.”

During the hearing, the counsels of applicants, including The Socio-Economic Rights & Accountability Project (SERAP), Paradigm Initiative, and Media Rights Agenda, reiterated the shutdown precedent of Amnesty International Togo & Others v. Togo decision, which states that the right to internet access should not be interfered with without proper justification, and emphasized the fact that Nigerian citizens rely on Twitter for their livelihoods and survival. Counsel Deji Ajare, representing amici Access Now, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Open Net Association, as well as amici Amnesty International, argued that, according to the international law, the internet is an enabler of human rights and limiting services like Twitter are not justified even on the ground of national security because the concept of national security is too broad and prone to abuse.

The counsel for another amici, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Ikechukwu Uzoma, argued that internet shutdowns is a global phenomenon, citing the #KeepItOn coalition data showing at least 768 incidents of shutdowns have been documented in 63 countries in the last five years. He additionally stated that there is a growing international consensus that given the COVID-19 pandemic, the internet is key for meeting security and public health goals. The counsel asked to accept these arguments not only in interest of rights of Nigerians but also in the interest of human rights globally. The Republic of Nigeria asked the Court to dismiss the case claiming it rightfully ordered the platform’s blocking as Twitter refuses to register in Nigeria or to be bound by Nigerian law, highlighting that it never blocked internet access, only Twitter.