President Bola Tinubu has directed the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to investigate major global technology companies and Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms over allegations of anti-competitive practices and the unlawful use of Nigerian media content.
The directive followed a joint petition submitted to the Presidency by the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), an umbrella body comprising 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 Federal Government conveyed the directive to the FCCPC through a letter signed by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris.
The investigation is expected to mark a significant moment in Nigeria’s media industry as concerns continue to grow over the influence of global digital platforms on the sustainability of local journalism.
At the centre of the probe are major technology companies, including Meta, Alphabet (Google), X (formerly Twitter), and several Generative AI platforms operating in Nigeria. The media organisations allege that some of these companies engage in practices that undermine fair competition, weaken the commercial viability of Nigerian media organisations and infringe on the rights of content creators and publishers.
Reacting to the development, FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Tunji Bello, assured stakeholders that the Commission would conduct an independent, transparent and evidence-based investigation.
“We recognise the strategic importance of the media to Nigeria’s democracy and the equally significant role of technology in driving innovation and economic growth. Our responsibility is to objectively determine the facts and ensure that competition within the digital ecosystem remains fair, transparent and consistent with Nigerian law,” Bello said.
He stressed that the investigation does not presume any company guilty of wrongdoing, noting that all parties would be given the opportunity to present evidence before any conclusions are reached.
According to Bello, the inquiry will determine whether the alleged conduct violates the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018 or any other applicable Nigerian law.
Among the issues under investigation are allegations of market dominance and anti-competitive conduct, the unauthorised scraping, extraction and commercial use of copyrighted news articles, broadcast materials and other original journalistic content for training Generative AI models, as well as claims that Nigerian media organisations have been denied fair compensation and meaningful commercial agreements for the use of their content.
The FCCPC had previously investigated Meta and, in 2025, secured a landmark judgment against the tech giant over breaches of the FCCPA, including data privacy violations, resulting in a $220 million fine. Meta has appealed the decision.
The move mirrors developments in South Africa, where the Competition Commission’s intervention led to an agreement requiring Google to pay South African news organisations R688 million (about $40 million) annually for between three and five years as compensation for the use of news content.
The FCCPC’s latest investigation is expected to shape the future relationship between global technology companies, AI platforms and Nigeria’s media industry, while testing the country’s competition and consumer protection laws in the rapidly evolving digital economy.
