Nigeria’s Twitter Ban & China’s Cyber Cultural Products

Welcome to the China Africa Tech Digest, where I demystify the latest in the world of China-Africa and technology.

June’s been an eventful month for China, Africa, and the internet. On June 5th, Nigeria’s government suspended the use of Twitter in the country, indefinitely. The next day, the Foundation for Investigative Journalism reported that the Nigerian government had also reached out to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), enlisting help to build Nigeria’s very own ‘great firewall’, a term used to describe the series of digital barriers China’s internet regulators have set in place to restrict access to the internet.

It’s hard to believe now but there was a time when China’s internet was also more…free. Internet restriction in China has been a gradual process. Back before China’s regulators understood the power of free and open internet access, platforms like YouTube and Google were easily accessible within the country. Weibo, one of China’s biggest microblogging platforms, was a site of political discourse, and internet organizers were wielding the web to create an environment for social change.

Setting the stage for what’s now the world’s most controlled online ecosystem, the Chinese government passed three regulations on internet censorship in the late 90s. But, the major shift came when in 2003 when China rolled out its ‘Golden Shield Project’ aimed at developing a system for surveilling and restricting online activity. Next, came the regulation and restriction of ‘internet cafes’ that were wildly popular at a time when few households had personal computers.

One can’t help but think that Nigeria is going down a similar path. Nigeria has a long history of censoring dissent online. This has been a gradual process that’s accelerated rapidly over the past few years. Ironically, Nigeria is also turning to experts from a foreign power to help them increase regulatory capabilities.

This isn’t the first time Nigeria’s political elites have expressed interest in adopting certain aspects of China’s method of internet censorship. In 2019, Nigeria’s first lady Aisha Buhari told the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs General Assembly at a meeting that “If China can control over 1.3 billion people on social media, I see no reason why Nigeria cannot attempt controlling only 180 million people”.

China’s CAC has a stated goal of carrying out ‘practical cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road’ and “encouraging Chinese enterprises to provide cyber cultural products and services catered to local needs based on local cultural resources”.

But, this goal has not been achieved without the collusion of international companies.

In 2005, when China was increasing surveillance capabilities, China’s regulators turned to U.S.-based Cisco Systems for hardware and enlisted the help of Google to block websites deemed ‘sensitive’ by the government.

Some point to China when looking at the tightening of internet freedom across Africa, but these restrictions would not be possible without a patchwork of mechanisms manufactured by governments and tech companies around the globe. Cyber-regulation is a profitable business that a number of companies and governments have heavily invested in. What we’re seeing in Nigeria is the full circle deployment of a patchwork of digital controls, exported to China, burnished by China’s government, and marketed to African political elites eager to dampen the growing voice of discontent from the continent’s exasperated masses.

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