Nigeria seeks to block YouTube accounts of banned groups

Nigeria has asked Google to block banned groups in the country from broadcasting on YouTube channels, Information Minister Lai Mohammed has said.

He said the YouTube channels were used to spread hate and disinformation against the country.

"Channels and emails containing names of proscribed groups and their affiliates should not be allowed on Google platforms,'' Mr Mohammed said after hosting Google executives in Abuja on Thursday.

The minister said the government was concerned about online activities by the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) - a separatist group pushing to form the independent nation of Biafra.

He said the government and Google "shared the same concern on the responsible use of social media", according to a statement from the ministry.

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.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: Reuters