NTV Explains Blunder That Led to Losing Twitter Account

A photo collage of Nation Media Group offices in Kimathi Street, Nairobi and the station's Twitter Account.
A photo collage of Nation Media Group offices in Kimathi Street, Nairobi and the station's Twitter Account.
Photo
NTV, Twitter

Nation Media Group's Managing Editor in charge of Audiences and Engagement, Oliver Mathenge explained that NTV's official Twitter account was locked for failing to adhere to the terms of service.

In a statement on Thursday, May 11, Mathenge pointed out that the discrepancy was brought about by failure to edit the 'date of birth', which ought to be more than 13 years before the account was created.

He advised companies seeking to subscribe to the latest features such as monetisation to ensure that they met the minimum age requirement.

"If you are running a company account and want to subscribe to the latest features (like monetisation), ensure that "date of birth" is more than 13 years before the account was created.

The Nation Centre building in Nairobi's Kimathi Street where the Nation Media Group offices are located. Monday, October 21, 2019
The Nation Centre building located at Kimathi Street, Nairobi's Central Business District (CBD).
Photo
Kenyans.co.ke

"That's how we had NTV Kenya locked as the account was opened in 2009 and the date of birth was when the station was established in 1998," he stated.  

Following the mishap, the NTV digital guru noted that their active ad campaigns were paused.

Twitter, however, provided a form for the giant media house to restore access to their account.

NTV's account was locked on Wednesday evening, May 10, with over 4.3 million followers. On Thursday morning, the account was restored.

A section of Kenyans speculated that the station's account was subject to attacks by cybercriminals as was the case by Kabarak University.

The institution's Facebook account was taken over by a hacker who demanded Ksh68,250 (500 dollars) for the university to regain access.

"I will not return this account, but I challenge all of you to reclaim this account immediately-regards a student from one of Jakarta's IT-based high schools, (Indonesia)," the hacker claimed.

Two days later, the institution managed to recover its account.

A photo showing Twitter's verified account.
A photo showing Twitter's verified account.
Photo
Twitter
  • . .