Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, says he would not delete his post on President Bola Tinubu despite a request to do so by the Department of State Services (DSS) to X (formerly Twitter).
The DSS had written to X demanding the deactivation of Sowore’s verified account, saying his recent post on Tinubu could incite violence and threaten national security.
In a post on Sunday, Sowore said X officially contacted him about a letter from the DSS demanding the removal of his content.
“This morning, X officially contacted me about the despicable threat letter they received from the DSS over my tweet on Tinubu,” he wrote.
“One option I will not be taking is deleting that tweet. Thank you, X.”
A notice from X, which Sowore shared, confirmed that the DSS had written to the platform alleging that his post violated Nigerian law.
The DSS asked X to delete the post and deactivate Sowore’s account within 24 hours or risk “far-reaching measures” by the federal government.
However, X said it had not taken any action on the content and underlined its policy of notifying users whenever such legal requests are made.
“As X strongly believes in defending and respecting the voice of our users, it is our policy to notify our users if we receive a legal request from an authorized entity (such as law enforcement or a government agency) to remove content from their account,” the platform stated.
“We understand that receiving this type of notice can be an unsettling experience. While X is not able to provide legal advice, we want you to have an opportunity to evaluate the request and, if you wish, take appropriate action to protect your interests.
“This may include seeking legal counsel and challenging the request in court, contacting relevant civil society organizations, voluntarily deleting the content (if applicable), or finding some other resolution.”
