FG working to block VPN through Nigerian internet firewall
The Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) in a report released on Sunday has claimed that the Federal Government has allegedly contacted China’s Cyberspace Administration (CAC) to discuss plans to build Nigerian internet firewall.
This is coming after the ban of Twitter in Nigeria by the federal government.
The report by the FIJ stated that Nigerian government officials present in the meeting include Ibrahim Gambari, the Chief of Staff to the President, and Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture.
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The internet firewall is a way of having a separate network for the Nigerian Internet that will give the government control over social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. This is similar to the internet filtering system China operated called the Great Firewall.
“The internet firewall will also give the Nigerian Government power to block VPN, which many Nigerians are using to access Twitter. The CAC is the central internet regulator, censor, oversight, and control agency for China and answers to the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, headed by Xi Jinping, China’s President.
Since its existence, the CAC, which also gives approval to data by Chinese companies outside of China, regulates usernames on the Chinese Internet, licences news information services, and bans comments that “harm national security” or “harm the nations honour interest.”
They added that the conversation about a Nigerian firewall started during the EndSARS protests, as the FG needed a legal framework through which it could carry out its actions.