People in Nigeria may lose access to Facebook and Instagram after parent company Meta faces high fines and “unrealistic” regulatory requirements from Nigerian authorities, according to a BBC report.
Meta was involved in a legal dispute with three Nigerian supervisory bodies, which last year violated various laws and regulations, with a total fine of more than US$290 million (£218 million). Despite attempts to challenge the fines in the Federal High Court of Abuja, Meta’s efforts remain unsuccessful. The court has awarded the company the fine until the end of June.
In court documents, Meta warned that it could be forced to shut down Facebook and Instagram in Nigeria to avoid enforcing measures. Although the company owns WhatsApp, it does not mention the messaging service in a statement about the situation.
Facebook is Nigeria’s most popular social media platform, providing tens of millions of users for daily communication, news sharing, and as a key tool for small businesses. Potential entry into the platform can have significant social and economic impacts.
The fine stems from three main complaints against the dollar:
- The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) fined $220 million for alleged anti-competitive practices.
- Nigerian advertising regulator fined $37.5 million for unauthorized advertising.
- The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) fined $32.8 million for violating data privacy laws.
Meta expressed major concerns about the NDPC requirements in its legal submissions, especially the requirement that Meta seeks prior approval before transferring personal data to Nigeria. The company called the situation “unrealistic”, as well as other regulatory requirements, such as working with government-approved agencies to create educational videos about data privacy risks.
NDPC’s insistence on these requirements prompted Meta to argue that the agency misunderstood the data privacy law, claiming that the regulation is infeasible and could seriously affect its operations.
