By Abubakar Ojima-ojo
The Nigerian government has directed the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to investigate Meta, X, Google’s parent company Alphabet, and several generative AI platforms over allegations that they are undermining Nigeria’s media industry through anti-competitive practices.
The directive, conveyed in a letter from Information Minister Mohammed Idris, follows a joint petition from the Nigerian Press Organisation, an umbrella body comprising the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers.
The petition accuses the companies of dominating the digital market in ways that threaten the commercial survival of Nigerian publishers.
The FCCPC said it will examine claims that the firms unlawfully scraped and used copyrighted news content to train AI models without compensating publishers, and whether Nigerian media houses have been denied fair opportunities to negotiate licensing deals.
The commission’s chief executive, Tunji Bello, said the inquiry would be independent, transparent and evidence-based, adding that it does not presume any wrongdoing and that all parties will get a chance to respond.
The case echoes a similar dispute in South Africa, where Google agreed last year to pay local news publishers roughly $40 million annually for several years after a competition commission probe.
The FCCPC itself fined Meta $220 million in 2025 over separate violations tied to data privacy, a penalty the company is appealing.
