*Nigerian government keeps a close watch on developments.
Following the resignation of the organization's key and safety executives, Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, has warned that the platform may go bankrupt.
In his first email to the entire firm on Thursday, the businessman and investor warned that if subscription revenue does not increase to compensate for declining advertising revenue, the platform will not be able to "survive the upcoming economic downturn."
Elon Musk
This is coming after two important executives, Lea Kissner, the chief security officer, and Yoel Roth, the head of trust and safety resigned.
"I have made the hard decision to leave Twitter, " Lea Kissner wrote on Twitter, after apparently resigning along with other important privacy executives.
Roth identified himself on Thursday as Twitter's "Former Head of Trust & Safety" on his Twitter profile.
The protests followed the launch of the much-anticipated Twitter Blue tick subscription service, which lets users pay $7.99 per month for a coveted blue tick and a separate grey "official" badge for a select number of high-profile accounts.
But on Wednesday, Musk abruptly dropped the new grey label. The newly launched payment service is now only available in the United States and on iPhones.
In response to the seeming disarray, the US body that oversees consumer safety, the Federal Trade Commission, issued a rare warning, because of previous security and privacy breaches on Twitter.
The Nigerian government is closely monitoring evolving developments on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian government said it is keeping an eye on developments at Twitter following its acquisition by a new owner.
This was disclosed by Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, in his opening remarks at the third meeting of the "PMB Administration Scorecard 2015-2023" series, launched last month to showcase the achievements of President Mohammadu Buhari's administration.
The minister said questions have been raised regarding what will happen to the contract between Twitter and the Federal Government in light of the change in ownership.
“Many have asked for our reaction following reports that there has been a spike in fake news, disinformation, and hate speech since the micro-blogging site changed ownership,” he told the press on Thursday.
"Many have even asked us if another ban is in the offing. Let me say this: We are closely monitoring the evolving developments at Twitter.
Image:The Punch
“It has never been our intention to ban any social media platform or stifle free speech. Not at all.
“What happened in the case of Twitter is well known to all. Twitter became a platform of choice for those who want to destabilize Nigeria using fake news, disinformation, and hate speech.
"No nation will allow any social media platform to plunge it into anarchy. Not Nigeria. But we have continued to engage positively with the different social media platforms, including Facebook, Google (owners of YouTube), and Twitter.
“We have no intention of banning any social media platform again. But we will also not sit by and allow any platform whatsoever to throw our nation into crisis,” Lai Mohammed said.
Recently, Twitter laid off almost all of its employees in Ghana, where its only office in Africa is located.
According to Twitter's email, which the BBC saw, the company "is re-organizing its operations as a result of a need to reduce costs."
The layoffs were a part of a worldwide purge of employees introduced by Elon Musk, the new Twitter boss.
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