According to Georges Ngole Mpoudi, CIO of the mobile network operator MTN, the company has restored its Twitter SMS service which was shut down 10 days ago on the orders of the Cameroon government, supposedly for reasons of "state security". He made the announcement via Twitter late this evening. [This information has also been confirmed by Twitter]
Although details about this government volte face are still emerging, observers point to the huge amount of international bad press ( Le Monde, Jeune Afrique, Foreign Policy/Washington Post, Committee to Protect Journalists, Global Voices, Yahoo News, etc.) that the Biya regime has received in recent days over its crackdown of a marginal service which is yet to gain a foothold in Cameroon.
Accusations of government censorship and of trying to stave off an Egypt-style uprising touched a raw nerve among Cameroonian authorities, many of whom were hard pressed to explain the rationale behind the Twitter SMS ban. For example, although he confessed to AFP that "he did not have 'perfect knowledge of the situation' surrounding MTN's Twitter suspension", Government spokesperson Issa Tchiroma nonetheless tried to justify the ban by declaring that "it is the government's responsibility to protect the nation." Same with Jean-Pierre Biyiti bi Essam, Minister of Post and Telecommunications, who also justified the ban by arguing that the problem was not with communications networks themselves but with their (subversive) content.
In my initial post on this issue, I had pointed out that:
Before today’s ban, very few Cameroonians were even aware that Twitter was available in Cameroon via SMS, and the majority of those who were did not even grasp its potential as a tool for political activism.
Without doubt, Twitter will surely get a new lease of life in Cameroon thanks to the actions of overzealous government officials who are always eager to silence real or imagined dissent for reasons of "national security" rather than engage dissenters in the public sphere over issues of national concern.
DISTANT REVOLUTIONNAIRES CAN NOW START TWITTING ABOUT CHANGE IN CAMEROON FROM THE SAFETY OF THEIR APPARTMENTS IN AMERICA AND EUROPE!!!!!
Posted by: s | March 19, 2011 at 04:59 AM
As I understand it, the ban affected only MTN subscribers in Cameroon, so I am not sure how this decision affects Cameroonians in the Diaspora one way or the other... or are we just looking for any opportunity to take a swipe at bushfallers...
Posted by: Hongla Duke | March 19, 2011 at 09:27 AM
s is waiting for Western Union to deliver some money from his brother in the USA. We support you indolent drunkards and your godforsaken economy, so we have a say in the destiny of the place. One day we shall get it right and will drive you regime thugs to the ocean. Nyamfukaa
Without our support, the place would have collapsed.
Posted by: Proud Bushfaller | March 23, 2011 at 09:22 AM
The perception that Cameroon is a "peaceful " country seems to hinge on the suppression tactics such as these. Gosh, they suppressed twitter in 2011, how forward-thinking! Some day the things we fear the most will meet us, some day this regime will be a thing of the past, wonder, will it be death by twitter🤔
Posted by: Mah M | November 20, 2016 at 11:29 AM