Despite Prosecution Threat, Nigerians Continue to Use Twitter Albeit VPNs

Nigerians have continued to use Twitter, defying the Federal Government’s threat to prosecute violators of ban on the social media platform.

After the ban announcement, Tweeps in Nigeria immediately started downloading Virtual Private Networks which is used to disguise or mask one’s location to access the social network. VPN describes the opportunity to establish a protected network connection when using public networks.

VPNs encrypt your internet traffic and disguise your online identity. This makes it more difficult for third parties to track your activities online and steal data. The encryption takes place in real-time.

Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami had said on Saturday that the government would prosecute anyone found accessing Twitter after its suspension.

The capacity of Nigeria to implement the ban is near impossible as it does not have the technology to block VPNS or impose a complete Twitter blackout.

Hence, it was not quite surprising that the Foundation For Investigative Journalism (FIJ) reported exclusively that “The Nigerian government, through the office of the Presidency, reached out to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) to discuss plans to build an internet firewall.

“The government officials present at the meeting include Ibrahim Gambari, the Chief of Staff to the President, and Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture.

“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 operates, called the Great Firewall.”

If the government is able to pull this through, it would be able to shut down the internet anytime it wants, clamp down on opposition at will and eventually run down businesses struggling to survive the harsh Nigerian business climate.

Top 5 Free VPNs to Access Twitter

There are uncountable VPNs on both Google or Apples stores. However, there some that are outstanding which you can use to access Twitter. Here are the top 5:

1. Windscribe
2. Psiphon
3. NordVPN
4. TunnelBear
5. Hotspot Shield

How to use VPN to Access Twitter

Mobile

1. Download your preferred VPN
2. Switch it on and select your preferred country
3. Voilà! You can access Twitter
4. You can also go to settings to ensure that only Twitter is being tunneled. This feature is available in almost all VPNs

Desktop

1. Download your preferred VPN extension from Chrome
2. Switch it on and select your preferred country
3. You are on your way to access Twitter in Nigeria!