Human rights activist and publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore, has filed a counter-lawsuit at the Federal High Court, in Abuja, against the Department of State Services (DSS), Meta Platforms Inc. (owner of Facebook), and X Corp. (formerly Twitter).
Peak Newspaper reports that the lawsuit challenges what Sowore describes as unconstitutional censorship of his social media accounts.
The legal action follows a previous suit filed by the DSS, which accused Sowore of publishing defamatory content about President Bola Tinubu.
The DSS alleged that Sowore’s social media posts violated Nigerian laws and sought their removal by the platforms.
In response, Sowore contends that the DSS lacks the power to request the social media platforms to delete his posts, including the one in question.
Sowore’s suit is seeking to restrain the DSS from further directing these platforms to remove his content.
Sowore’s legal representative, Tope Temokun, emphasised that the suit aims to challenge the alleged unconstitutional censorship initiated by the DSS against Sowore’s accounts maintained with Meta and X.
Sowore argues that such censorship of political criticism is incompatible with democratic principles, citing Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression.
The DSS had previously issued a one-week ultimatum to Sowore, demanding the removal of the post, labeling it as “false, malicious, and inciting.”
However, Sowore did not comply with the demand, leading to the current legal proceedings.
As of now, there have been no public statements from the DSS, Meta, or X Corp. regarding the lawsuit.
