$220m Fine: Media Group Warns As Meta Threatens To Cut Off Facebook, Instagram In Nigeria

Executive director of Journalists for Democratic Rights, (JODER), Mr Adewale Adeoye, has said international organisations operating in Nigeria must respect domestic laws, saying Nigeria is a sovereign nation.

He reacted yesterday to threats by Facebook and Instagram parent company, Meta, to cut the social media platforms from Nigeria, saying 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 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 also owns WhatsApp, but it did not mention the messaging service in its statement.

In July last year, Meta was asked to pay three fines:

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) imposed a $220m fine for alleged anti-competitive practices

The advertising regulator fined the company $37.5m over unapproved advertising

And the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC) alleged Meta had violated data privacy laws and fined it $32.8m. The high court has given the company until the end of June to pay the fines.

Mr Adeoye in his reaction, said there had been instances where the British judicial system ruled against Nigerian entities.

He added, “However, this particular case is of significant interest because of its implication for millions of Nigerians. The issue affects millions of Nigerians that use Facebook and Instagram. I personally think the judgment was too harsh. It does not appear to me to be proportional to the offence committed.

‘’The judges are not infallible even though they are judges. Law should have justice for the society, the victim and the prosecutor. The judgment will jeopardise businesses of millions of Nigerians who would lose their trade and investments if the two social services were to be shut down in Nigeria.

‘’The Judges apparently did not take into consideration the implication on the economy of millions of Nigerians that do their businesses on Facebook and Instagram. There are also implications for the government, human rights and free speech. The government promotes its programmes through Facebook and Instagram, reaching out to millions of citizens, the people engage the government through Facebook for criticisms, support and for feedback.

“Shutting down Facebook and Instagram is like a coup against democracy in which the Judiciary should not allow itself to be used as an instrument for the trampling of free speech and public communication.

“I hope Meta will challenge these decisions in Nigeria and if it fails, Meta should approach ECOWAS. Why the Judiciary could impose fines, such fines should not be designed to kill the patient.’’

The BBC asked Meta to outline what its next steps would be but has not yet received a response.

Facebook is by far the most popular social media platform in Nigeria and is used by tens of millions in the country for daily communication and sharing news. It is also a vital tool for many of Nigeria’s small online businesses.

FCCPC chief executive officer Adamu Abdullahi said investigations carried out in conjunction with the data commission between May 2021 and December 2023 revealed “invasive practices against data subjects/consumers in Nigeria” but was not specific about what these were.

In its court submission, Meta said its “primary concern” was with the data commission, which it accused of “misinterpreting” data privacy laws.

Specifically, the commission has demanded that Meta seek prior approval before transferring any personal data out of Nigeria – a condition that Meta called “unrealistic”.

The data commission also imposed other demands.

Meta was told it must provide an icon linking to educational videos about data privacy risks. This would be content created in collaboration with government-approved educational institutions and non-profit organisations.