Political power versus the politics of regulation: Nigeria’s Twittersphere and tussles from the #EndSARS protests. Conference on the Regulation of old and new media forms in Africa.

Social media regulatory schemes that have swept the African continent in recent times underscore contentions over who holds and controls political power. Existing research defines the political power possessed by groups with opposing preferences as determining the victor and vanquished. In emerging democracies, particularly those relatively profiled as anocracies, contentions between politically-aware citizens and dissenting political regimes seem to be after utmost control of political power echelons. However, while one side retains and justifies its freedom of expression and broad fundamental rights, the other can deploy its politics of regulation towards arresting the privileges of the former. As an annotation to sentiments implicit in social media research and controversial public discourses about the disruptive possibilities of social media, it can be argued that foregrounding regulatory rhythms are contestations over political power now and its security for the future.

This article assesses the institutional struggles for political power and the sovereign opportunities that the politics of regulation offers political regimes to censor media technologies. Insights into this are sought through a social movement perspective. Nigeria’s #EndSARS protests in October 2020 did not only unveil the resolve of young Nigerians against police brutality, but it also challenged the hold of the Nigerian government on the pledged allegiance of the body of popular voters that elected it to power, in other words, the political power that the government commands. Social media and other technologies cannot be isolated from the galvanising tools that empowered the movement to challenge power. Moreover, Twitter’s Ban in 2021 by the Nigerian Government brings to fore residues from the #EndSARS protest that the government seemed unable to recover from. This article reviews contributions from research on social media regulation, social media disruption, and online political participation, and challenges mapped claims with the on-ground realities that the #EndSARS protest present.