Koo set to explore Nigeria's social media space after country indefinitely bans Twitter

Indian microblogging site Koo is considering expanding its base in Nigeria after the African country suspended the microblogging site Twitter on Friday. Koo now wants to fill the void that has been created by the Nigerian government after it suspended Twitter indefinitely.

The ban came two days after the platform deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari, claiming it has violated the platform's rules.

Nigeria's Information Minister Lai Mohammed accused Twitter of having an agenda and reasoned behind the indefinite ban that the "persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria's corporate existence".

Meanwhile, Koo is eyeing Nigeria's social media space. "@kooindia is available in Nigeria. We're thinking of enabling the local languages there too. What say?" wrote the company's co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna on Twitter. The tweet received a number of suggestions from users including grabbing a market share there and providing government officials executive handles.

The Bengaluru-based social media service app Koo has won the Government of India's Atma Nirbhar App innovation Challenge in August  2020. The app was founded by the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad alumnus Aprameya Radhakrishna with Mayank Bidawatka. 

It has raised more than USD 34 million in funding so far, according to a new Forbes India profile. However, it did not disclose how many users Koo currently has but that it targets 100 million users 'over the next couple of years'.

Social media platforms like Twitter have long faced curbs under authoritarian regimes like in China, Turkey, and more recently Myanmar.