Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, says it might shut down both platforms in Nigeria due to heavy fines and strict regulations from Nigerian authorities.
Three government agencies fined Meta over $290 million in 2023 for breaking advertising, competition, and data privacy laws. Meta recently lost a court case trying to fight those penalties.
The Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC) wants Meta to ask for permission before sending users’ data outside the country and to create educational content on data risks, demands Meta calls unrealistic.
Meta must pay the fines by the end of June or face further action. Facebook is the most used social media platform in Nigeria, with millions relying on it for communication and business.
This isn’t the first time Nigeria has clashed with tech companies. In 2021, the country banned Twitter (now X) for months after it deleted a tweet from then-President Buhari.
Nigeria has one of the largest social media user bases in Africa, second only to Egypt.
