I understand Twitter is already accessible to African users, and this blog post is about expanding Twitter's employment presence in Africa. That said, I really don't want to see Twitter or other Western technology companies extend their tentacles further into Asia or Africa. The immense influence these Silicon Valley companies have in shaping public conversation and culture threatens all other cultures and diversity of thought globally. The adoption of Twitter amounts to digital colonization, a vehicle for cultural globalization that homogenizes societies in the shape of American progressive culture.<p>I really find Twitter's blog post to be deceptive and tone deaf. For example consider this:<p>> As a champion for democracy, Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate.<p>Twitter heavily censors moderates and conservatives in America on any controversial topic that is current - whether that is COVID-19, or gender identity, or immigration, or whatever else. Africa is a lot more conservative than Silicon Valley and holds very different viewpoints on life, morality, ethics, law, politics, etc. Is Twitter going to censor African users and steer their speech as well? If so how can it possibly claim to be an advocate for free speech at all?<p>Another problematic statement:<p>> We still have much to learn but we are excited to listen, learn, and engage. Public conversation is essential to solving problems, building shared ideas, and pushing us all forward together.<p>When has Twitter ever listened to those who think differently from its employee base? I don't think Twitter has listened or learned at all, even in the US where it is reasonable to expect that they would understand their user base better and cater to all viewpoints better. Instead, their playbook seems to be to impose the worldview of their employees and vocal activists on the entire planet. Whether intended or not, the effect of Twitter's adoption in other nations is propagandist, and I find it to be as repulsive as physical colonization.<p>I hope users in Africa are alert enough to realize that they should use a local platform, or at least one that is more honestly in favor of free speech, rather than one originating from Silicon Valley. European leaders are already waking up to the existential threat Western influence poses to their culture (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/09/world/europe/france-threat-american-universities.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/09/world/europe/france-threa...</a>), and China was of course well ahead of other nations in seeing the threat of cultural erasure coming from America. Africa, a continent on the rise and on a path towards global prominence, should be similarly wise.