Regulate TikTok, App causing harm to Nigeria — Buhari’s ex-aide

A former media aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmed, has revealed that the social media app TikTok is causing more harm than good for Nigeria.

Ahmed stated that the platform, increasingly favoured by criminal elements to reach the public, requires stricter regulation by stakeholders.

In a post on his X.com account late Wednesday, the former aide argued that the freedom provided by the app is emboldening criminals to spread misinformation and propaganda.

He said, “It is alarming that TikTok, a global social media platform, is being utilised by criminals such as bandits, kidnappers, and terrorists in Nigeria to interact with the public and, in some cases, even engage in live conversations defending their heinous activities.

“The platform is causing more harm than good to our country, as it not only amplifies the voices of these criminals but also emboldens them by providing a space to spread their propaganda and misinformation. Nigeria needs stricter regulations and content monitoring on TikTok to prevent these dangerous individuals from using it for their malicious agendas.”

During Buhari’s tenure, the Federal Government banned the operations of the microblogging site Twitter, now X, in Nigeria for 222 days.

Twitter’s operations were suspended in Nigeria in June 2021, just days after the platform deleted a tweet by Buhari.
The Buhari administration, of which Ahmed was a part, lifted the ban from midnight on 13 January 2022.

Recently, concerns have been raised over viral videos on TikTok showing bandits flaunting cash purportedly collected as ransom for their victims.

A counter-insurgency expert and security analyst, Zagazola Makama, highlighted these videos in a series of posts on his X account.