President Bola Tinubu has ordered a probe into Meta, Google, X and generative AI platforms over allegations of anti-competitive practices and the use of Nigerian media content without fair compensation.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to investigate global technology companies, including Meta, Google, X and several generative artificial intelligence platforms, over allegations that they have been using Nigerian media content without fair compensation.
The directive was issued through the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, following a joint petition submitted to the Presidency by the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), a coalition representing major stakeholders in the country’s media industry. The coalition includes the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP). The petition accuses global tech companies of profiting from original Nigerian journalism without entering fair commercial arrangements with the publishers and broadcasters who create the content.
According to the Federal Government, the investigation will examine whether the activities of these platforms amount to anti-competitive conduct, unlawful exploitation of copyrighted news content and other unfair market practices that may be harming the sustainability of Nigerian journalism. The FCCPC said the probe would also extend to generative AI platforms operating in Nigeria, with particular attention on whether copyrighted news reports, broadcast materials and other journalistic works were scraped, extracted or used to train AI systems without the consent of content owners.
The move marks one of Nigeria’s strongest regulatory interventions yet in the relationship between global technology companies and local media organisations. For years, publishers and broadcasters have argued that search engines, social media platforms and AI services attract traffic, engagement and advertising revenue from journalism produced by Nigerian newsrooms while offering little or no compensation to the media houses that bear the cost of reporting, editing and publishing the news. The latest petition suggests that those concerns have now reached a point where the Federal Government is prepared to test the matter under Nigeria’s competition and consumer protection laws.
FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tunji Bello said the commission would conduct an independent, transparent and evidence-based inquiry into the allegations. He stressed that the investigation does not presume guilt on the part of any company but will assess all available evidence, hear from affected parties and determine whether any conduct violated the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018 or any other relevant Nigerian law.
Bello added that the commission recognises both the strategic role of the media in sustaining democracy and the importance of technology in driving innovation and economic growth, but said competition within the digital ecosystem must remain fair, transparent and lawful.
Among the key issues under review are whether some of the technology companies abused dominant market positions to the disadvantage of Nigerian publishers, whether news articles and broadcast content were commercially exploited without authorisation, and whether local media organisations were denied a fair opportunity to negotiate compensation agreements for the use of their work. The FCCPC is also expected to consider whether the alleged practices have distorted competition in Nigeria’s media market by weakening the financial sustainability of newsrooms and discouraging investment in journalism.
The probe also comes against the backdrop of Nigeria’s increasingly assertive stance toward global digital platforms. In recent years, the FCCPC has taken action against major technology companies over issues ranging from data privacy to consumer protection and alleged abuse of market power. In one of its most notable cases, the regulator secured a $220 million penalty against Meta over alleged discriminatory practices and violations of Nigerian competition and consumer protection laws, a decision that has since been appealed. The latest directive therefore signals that the government is broadening its scrutiny of big tech beyond privacy and consumer issues to include the economics of news publishing and the use of copyrighted media content in the AI era.
If the investigation finds merit in the allegations, the outcome could reshape how global technology firms interact with Nigerian publishers and broadcasters. It could open the door to new rules on licensing, compensation, content use and bargaining rights for media organisations whose work powers digital search, social media engagement and AI training systems.
For Nigeria’s press ecosystem, the case could become a landmark test of whether governments in Africa can compel global tech platforms to pay for the value they extract from local journalism.