Last year, Nigerian authorities moved to impose a fine to clean up US tech giant Meta, the parent company of Facebook, for various crimes upheld in the High Court this month. While Meta currently threatens to close operations in a West African country, it could cut off tens of millions of Nigerians from Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, the case raises important questions about how African countries support regulatory standards without ousting the world's largest and most important tech companies.
In 2023, the Nigeria Federal Competitive and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) fined Meta for alleged anti-competitive practices, and the Nigeria Advertising Regulation Council (ARCON) fined $37.5 million over unapproved advertising.
This, together with the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC), filed a lawsuit against Meta to violate the Data Privacy Act and impose a $32.8 million fine.
NDPC argues that Meta must seek explicit user approval before transferring personal data from users outside of Nigeria, reflecting the common concerns of African countries as African data moves abroad for commercial interests but is outside the scope of African regulators.
FCCPC CEO Adamu Abdullahi said that Meta is engaged in “aggressive practices against Nigerian data subjects” and called for “to comply with general laws and to cease exploitation of Nigerian consumers and market abuse.”
Meta argues that the conditions required by regulators are “unrealistic,” suggesting that the authorities “misinterpret” the law. The company appealed against these fines, but this month the High Court upheld the regulator's case and ordered Meta to pay the fine by the end of June.
Rotimi Ogunyemi, technology lawyer and partner at BOC Legal in Lagos, told African businesses that regulatory criticism of meta's practices is “substantially fair.”
“Uneven privacy practices in the region across the meta, such as providing stronger compliance in the European Union but having more looser standards in Nigeria, examine the findings of the FCCPC and NDPC,” he says.
“But that approach — heavy fines and unusually strict corrective orders — may be considered an overcorrection given the country's still-developed regulations maturation,” adds Ogunyemi.
“However, this enforcement has driven the necessary conversations about digital sovereignty and equal rights for Nigerian users.
Meta exit threats cause alarms
The threat of withdrawing from the meta market regardless of rights, mistakes or legal disputes – what regulators criticized their decision as “a calculated move aimed at inducing negative public responses” raised concerns in several quarters.
“Applicants may be forced to effectively close Nigeria's Facebook and Instagram services to mitigate the risk of enforcement actions,” the company said in court documents.
After all, over 51 million people in Nigeria use Facebook alone. This is a number that represents more than 20% of the total population. Nigeria has over 50 million WhatsApp accounts, but over 12 million Instagram users in the country.
Approximately 75% of Nigeria's population is under the age of 24, and this young demographic is increasingly keen to use social media for communication and use it for business purposes.
In fact, the percentage of internet users in Nigeria used social media for work-related purposes. This has skyrocketed from 39.1% in 2024 to 65.2% in 2025. This is due to the growth of the continent's multi-billion dollar “creative economy” and the young Africans make a living from producing content.

Macroeconomic challenges such as rising unemployment and sustained high inflation encourage young Nigerians to trade goods and services through the online economy. Ogunyemi said, “The withdrawal of the meta platform will be disruptive for small and medium-sized businesses (small businesses), digital marketers, and informal businesses. It relies on outreach and sales. It weakens investors' trust in the technology space in Nigeria and raises concerns about the inexplicability of regulations.”
However, he also said this was “impossible in a near-term period… The meta threat of withdrawing Facebook and Instagram appears to be more like tactical pressure than a strategic decision. Nigeria is Africa's biggest market, Ogniemi has told African businesses.
“Meta finds current regulatory demands, particularly around data localization and approval, can be a hassle, but potential losses in market share, user data and strategic positioning will likely have a complete exit unless enforcement escalates dramatically and negotiations completely collapse.”
Would you like to stay here?
Also, the extent to which meta, or in fact, Nigerian authorities can enforce such a move, is unknown. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that allow users to mask their IP addresses and thus access websites that they believe are prohibited or unavailable, are easy to use and ready to use.
When Twitter (now X) was suspended in Nigeria between June 2021 and January 2022, after President ExpressVPN, ExpressVPN, one of the world's largest VPN providers, reported a 250% spike in Nigeria's traffic, the platform for ExpressVPN was removed.
Meta incidents are politically sensitive to the Nigerian government and potentially have continental-wide impacts. It is clear that the African government, which is primarily based in the US, is keen to assert its authority over the vast tech companies that operate within African jurisdictions and profit from its citizens.
The tech giant is turning his eyes to Trump
But that's probably easier than you would say. For one thing, most African countries have lower annual GDP than the $134.3 billion profit meta reported in 2024, but it is unlikely that the Trump administration will be seen favorably in attempts to limit the activity of major US companies such as the meta.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this year that he “will work with President Trump to push back governments around the world chasing American businesses.”
In February, the White House issued a memorandum directing US agencies to develop tariffs and “other response actions” to retaliate against “regulations imposed on US companies” imposed by foreign governments that could hinder the growth or intended operations of US companies.
Compromise is possible
What can Nigeria and other African governments do in light of these conditions? Ogunyemi suggests that “rather than rely heavily on enforcement,” Nigeria should consider moving towards a “more incentive-based strategy, such as the public-private digital compact.” The idea is to move towards a more practical approach that recognizes the power and economic significance of platforms such as meta, and helps governments develop more conflicting relationships where regulatory standards are nevertheless consistently supported.
“Platforms like Meta, for example, may pledge to adhere to regulatory principles, invest in digital literacy programs and respect content moderation practices that are in line with Nigerian law,” he explains. “In return, regulators can pledge to support innovation, provide clear guidelines and consider industry input in rulemaking.”
“Other approaches include negotiated compliance frameworks and layered proportional enforcement. Rather than former post (post factual) punishment, Nigeria can use negotiated contracts to ensure compliance,” says Ogunyemi. “Tools like this reduce the risk that enforcement coexists with innovation and thwarts technological development while advocating for consumer protection and privacy.”
“The key is to avoid Nigeria's enforcement of a burnt earth,” says Ogunyemi.