Twitter Ban: Overall loss to the economy will be in billions, Influencers, Stakeholders say as brands pause ongoing campaigns
The livelihoods of Nigerian influencers, small and medium businesses are presently at risk of a significate change following the suspension of the operations of Twitter in Nigeria by the government.
The ban, which was announced on Friday, June 4, 2021, may threaten the influencer marketing industry, which sprung up in the last decade and fast becoming a significant contributor to Nigeria’s economy.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced on Friday, June 4, 2021, that the government had suspended the operations of Twitter in Nigeria following the removal of a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari which violated the Twitter community rules.
The popularity and influence of the app played a significant role in the success of the #EndSARS protests across Nigeria in 2020, which caught global attention. Since then, the government has been at loggerheads with the app CEO Jack Dorsey over his role in promoting protest.
Twitter is not just a micro-blogging site; it has also become a livelihood source for many young Nigerians due to the country’s high unemployment rate.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose from 27.1% in the second quarter of 2020 to 33.3% in the fourth quarter of 2020, indicating that about 23.2 million Nigerians are unemployed.
The majority of these unemployed are young Nigerians aged 30 and below, who also forms about 70 per cent of Nigeria’s over 200 million population.
Twitter and other social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook have become escape routes from unemployment for many young Nigerians who have taken to entrepreneurship, content creation and influencer marketing. They take to the micro-blogging site daily to advertise their businesses, creative works and also promote brands.
Gbenga Sogbaike, the CEO of Plaqad, a PR and marketing technology company, told Neusroom that many Nigerians earn their living off Twitter – influencers/creators, agencies, SMEs. “Twitter is a great marketing tool for businesses, and if they can no longer use the app, what do you think will happen? Revenue loss, job losses etc.”
Twitter is also a leading platform contributing to the Nigerian influencer marketing industry.
The 2020 Influencer Compensation Report by Plaqad revealed that Nigerian influencers have been able to drive a good increase in terms of investment return for brands.
“55.4% of those who come across influencer recommendations for a product agree that it has some impact on their purchase decisions. Globally positive audience sentiment is at about 91% among Millenials,” the report says. “A huge amount of product sales are tied to the work of influencers, and this is why more brands are opting for online influencers over traditional celebrities and willing to increase what they spend on influencers.”
In 2019, only 22 percent of Nigerian brands spent below N5million, the rest spent as high as N50 million on influencer campaigns, according to Plaqad, with the bulk of them planning to spend even more in 2021.
The blockade of access to Twitter in Nigeria has now forced many users to use VPN to bypass the restriction and access the app.
Although Pamilerin Adegoke and Oluyemi Fasipe told Neusroom that the ban has not affected their works, Sogbaike believes it will affect all ongoing digital campaigns on the micro-blogging site.
Pamilerin, with over 550,000 Twitter users, is one of Nigeria’ most prominent influencers. He told Neusroom that “It hasn’t affected me much, with the look of things, nobody is ready to back out. Even the brands are using VPN now. So we are good.”
“As long as VPN is not shut down, I don’t see any problem here,” Oluyemi Fasipe, a popular influencer based in Akure, Ondo state, said. “And I doubt this will last. It holds no water.”
Sogbaike, however, said, “VPNs regardless, many Nigerians may still find it a bit more difficult to access the app,” he told Neusroom. “Brands won’t be able to reach the size of the audience they would normally have been able to.”
He noted that it would reduce the number of campaigns, loss of income/revenue, possible illegal arrests and harassment by Police, budget cuts, and redirection of budget to other social media platforms.
Abimbola Olabisi, with more than 400,000 Twitter followers, said the suspension has started affecting some campaigns as some major brands have asked that their campaigns be paused.
“Organisations don’t want to be associated with any account (influencer) tweeting currently, which is basically everybody, indirectly it would mean that the organisation is in support of the violation of rules laid down by the federal government,” he told Neusroom.
With the latest directive from the government ordering the Director of Public Prosecution to begin prosecuting any Nigerian who uses Twitter, Sogbaike said, many users may start abandoning the app over the fear of arrest.
“Now that the police may start harassing and arresting users of the app on the illegal orders of the Attorney General, we can safely assume that more Nigerians will abandon the app,” he said.
The Plaqad CEO, who said he couldn’t immediately confirm the specific amount the influencer marketing industry would lose to the ban, said, “millions of dollars will be lost, and the overall loss to the economy will be in billions over time.”
Olabisi, the influencer, said if the suspension goes on for more than a week up to a month, an influencer will be losing up to a million naira.
According to Net Blocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cybersecurity, Nigeria is losing $250,600 every hour Twitter remains suspended, while a total shutdown costs $5.6 million per hour.
In a statement via its Policy page on Saturday, June 5, 2021, Twitter has said that it will work to “restore access for all those in Nigeria who rely on Twitter to communicate and connect with the world.”
