Sowore Sues DSS, Meta, and X Corp Over Attempt to Delete Anti-Tinubu Post Corp

Punchngs July 29, 2025

Sowore Sues DSS, Meta, and X Corp Over Attempt to Delete Anti-Tinubu Post Corp

Nigeria News
17.09.2025
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Human rights activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has filed fresh lawsuits at the Federal High Court, Abuja, against the Department of State Services (DSS), Meta (owners of Facebook), and X Corp. (formerly Twitter) over alleged attempts to censor his social media posts critical of President Bola Tinubu.

This development was disclosed in a statement signed by his lawyer, Tope Temokun, and uploaded on Sowore’s Facebook page on Tuesday.

According to Temokun, the lawsuits were filed to challenge what he described as the “unconstitutional censorship” initiated by the DSS against Sowore’s accounts maintained on Meta and X. The legal action underscores Sowore’s long-standing advocacy for the protection of free speech in Nigeria.

The lawyer emphasized that the case is fundamentally about safeguarding the constitutional right to freedom of expression. “If state agencies can dictate to global platforms who may speak and what may be said, then no Nigerian is safe; their voices will be silenced at the whim of those in power,” Temokun said.

Temokun further stressed that censorship of political criticism is alien to democracy. Citing Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he reiterated that every citizen hasthe right to freedom of expression without interference.

“No security agency, no matter how powerful, can suspend or delete those rights,” Temokun stated, adding that this lawsuit is a necessary step to preserve civil liberties in Nigeria.

The statement also called on Meta and X to resist unlawful censorship demands. Temokun warned that both companies risk becoming complicit in repression if they comply with directives that violate fundamental rights.

“Meta and X must also understand this: When they bow to unlawful censorship demands, they become complicit in the suppression of liberty. They cannot hide behind neutrality while authoritarianism is exported onto their platforms,” the lawyer noted.

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The suit seeks a declaration that the DSS has no power in law to censor Nigerians on social media and that Meta and X must not act as “tools of repression.”

In a separate Facebook post on Tuesday, Sowore described the DSS’s actions as a breach of human rights. He wrote: “The State Security Service, alias @OfficialDSSNG today filed a 5-count charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja against ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and myself.”

“They claimed that because I called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu a criminal, I have somehow committed a set of ‘novel’ offences they invented and spread across five counts. Regardless, I will be present whenever this case is assigned for trial. #RevolutionNow,” Sowore added.

Earlier reports by PUNCH Online revealed that Sowore had vowed not to delete the contentious tweet despite the DSS reportedly asking X to take it down. Sowore shared a notification he received from X, confirming that the platform had received a legal request from the Nigerian secret police regarding his post.

The message from X read in part: “We have not taken any action on the reported content at this time as a result of this request. As X strongly believes in defending and respecting the voice of our users, it is our policy to notify our users if we receive a legal request from an authorised entity.”