Twitter ban: FG opens Indian microblogging account, Koo

The Federal Government has opened an official account on Koo, an Indian microblogging platform.

The move considered an option to Twitter is coming less than a week after the FG suspended Twitter operations in Nigeria.

The government had alleged that the microblogging site (Twitter) was being used to undermine “Nigeria’s corporate existence”.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said on Wednesday the ban on Twitter in Nigeria did not stifle the citizens’ freedom of expression as they still have the options of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other social media platforms.

The Koo account, with the handle, “@nigeriagov” and username, “Government of Nigeria”, had over 10,000 followers as of press time.

Koo founder and CEO, Aprameya Radhakrishna, had earlier confirmed that the platform is now available in Nigeria.

Radhakrishna said his team was working on adding Nigeria’s local languages for Koo users in the country.

“Koo is now available in Nigeria. We are thinking of enabling the local language there as well. He further added that they are considering introducing a local Nigerian language into the Koo app,” he said.

He added, “Nigeria is similar to India in terms of language diversity. It has hundreds of regional languages. Koo has a global outlook and will enable micro-blogging in countries that need it the most. We have built a scalable platform, and while we are still enhancing the product, it’s already available for use in multiple countries today.”