Internet & Online Safety · Nigeria
Internet & Online Safety - Nigeria
Nigeria regulates online content and safety through several overlapping instruments rather than one comprehensive online-safety law. The NITDA Code (2022) and the more recent NCC Internet Code of Practice 2026 impose content-moderation, takedown, transparency and child-protection obligations on platforms and internet access providers via a co-regulatory model, while the amended Cybercrimes Act 2024 criminalises categories of online speech. The regime is real and tightening, but is built from subsidiary codes and a cybercrime statute, and several provisions raise free-expression concerns.
The NCC issued a revised Internet Code of Practice on 13 February 2026 (with accompanying Guidance Notes), governing internet access service providers and online/digital communication platforms. It covers traffic management, security, privacy/data breaches, protection of minors, and content governance.
The NCC Code empowers the Commission to issue takedown notices for 'unlawful content' (content violating Nigerian law) and 'harmful content' (material causing offence, distress or harm), to be complied with within 24 hours of receipt, with a right of appeal for aggrieved parties.
Effective 2022, NITDA's Code requires large platforms (over 100,000 Nigerian users) to incorporate locally, maintain a physical office, appoint liaison/compliance officers, file compliance reports, and remove content within 24 hours of notice from an authorised government agency. NITDA published a 2024 compliance report in 2025.
The 2026 NCC Code mandates that telcos/platforms provide simple-to-enable parental control and content-filtering tools, multilingual safety guidance, and an opt-in default for minors/vulnerable users; it does not impose a UK/EU-style mandatory age-verification regime for general access.
The Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act 2024 (signed 28 Feb 2024) revised Section 24 to target false messages sent 'for the purpose of causing a breakdown of law and order or posing a threat to life'; vague terms like 'annoyance', 'insult' and 'false information' remain, drawing criticism that the law is used against journalists and critics.
Nigeria banned/suspended Twitter for 222 days (4 June 2021 – 13 Jan 2022); the ban was lifted by NITDA after Twitter agreed to incorporate locally, appoint a country representative and comply with tax obligations — conditions later echoed in the NITDA Code.
Machine-assisted translation · verified 5/23/2026 · orientation, not legal advice. English version →