People in Nigeria may lose access to Facebook and Instagram after parent company Meta said it faced large fines and “unrealistic” regulatory demands from the Nigerian authorities.
Last year, three Nigerian oversight agencies imposed fines on the US-based social media giant totalling more than $290m (£218m) for violating various laws and regulations.
Meta was unsuccessful in a recent attempt to challenge the decisions in the federal high court in Abuja.
“The applicant may be forced to effectively shut down the Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria in order to mitigate the risk of enforcement measures,” the company said in the court papers.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is threatening to suspend its services in Nigeria due to “unrealistic” regulatory demands and hefty fines totaling over $290 million. The fines were imposed by three Nigerian oversight agencies for violating various laws and regulations, including¹ ²:
– *Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) fine*: $220 million for alleged anti-competitive practices
– *Advertising regulator fine*: $37.5 million for running unapproved ads
– *Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC) fine*: $32.8 million for alleged data privacy violations
Meta’s primary concern lies with the NDPC’s demands, which include:
– *Prior approval for data transfer*: Seeking approval before transferring personal data out of Nigeria, a condition Meta deems “unrealistic”
– *Data privacy education*: Displaying an icon linking users to educational content on data privacy risks, developed in collaboration with government-approved entities
The company failed to overturn these sanctions in the Federal High Court in Abuja and has until the end of June to settle the fines. If Meta follows through on its threat, millions of Nigerians could lose access to Facebook and Instagram, which are widely used for communication, news, and business.
