Nigeria Government joins Koo days after banning Twitter; Indian app's co-founder reacts

Koo is being branded as a platform developed by Indians for Indians, thus gaining prominence in the nation. However, it seems even foreign accounts are taking to it. Not a netizen account, but it was the Government of Nigeria that joined the ‘Atmanirbhar’ app days after banning Twitter in the country.

Government of Nigeria joins Koo after banning Twitter

Co-founder of Koo, Aprameya Radhakrishna tweeted a ‘warm welcome’ to the official handle of the Government of Nigeria. Tagging Mayank Bidawakta, his partner in setting up the app, he expressed delight about the platform ‘spreading wings beyond India’.

This was after he had tweeted on June 5 that Koo was available in Nigeria and that they were contemplating on enabling the local languages.

The Nigeria government had accused Twitter of double standards as it banned the Jack Dorsey-led company on June 2. This was in response to the platform deleting President Muhammadu Buhari's tweet. Nigeria's Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed had expressed condemnation of the 'persistent use' of Twitter for actions that could allegedly undermine Nigeria's corporate existence.

Koo is also widening its base amid rival Twitter being currently involved in a stand-off with the Government of India over compliance with the new IT rules. While Facebook, Google, and Telegram agreed to comply with the latest guidelines, Twitter was yet to fall in line. On Wednesday, it was reported that Twitter had begun partial compliance of the rules, by appointing a Nodal Contact Person and a Resident Grievance Officer.

Apart from numerous Union ministers and other politicians and actors like Anupam Kher hitting 1 million followers on Koo, the platform recently raised $30 million, with funding led by Tiger Global. The valuation of the company is now close to $150 million.