Nigeria seeks to block YouTube accounts of banned groups

According to Nigeria's information minister, Lai Mohammed, the country has urged Google to prevent prohibited organizations from broadcasting on YouTube channels.

He claimed that hate speech and false information were propagated about the nation via YouTube channels.

After entertaining Google officials in Abuja on Thursday, Mr. Mohammed said, "Channels and emails carrying names of outlawed parties and their affiliates should not be allowed on Google services.

The minister stated that the government was concerned about the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), a separatist group attempting to establish the independent state of Biafra, and their online activity.

According to a statement from the ministry, he claimed that Google and the government "had the same concern on the appropriate use of social media."

Charles Murito, Google's sub-Saharan African director for government affairs and public policy, is quoted as saying: "We share the same goals and objectives and we do not want our platform to be used for ill purposes".

Millions of people in Africa's most populous nation use platforms like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok.