Nigeria’s internet regulator releases draft to regulate Google, Facebook, TikTok and others

Tage Kene-Okafor@ulonnaya / 5:05 PM EDT•June 13, 2022

In a draft shared by the country's internet regulator, there are plans to regulate internet companies such as Facebook, WhatsApp, andInstagram.

The information can be found on the National Information Technology Development Agency's website and on its social media pages.

Six months after declaring a ban on the social media giant, Nigeria lifted its ban on the site.

According to a memo written by the director-general of NITDA to Nigeria's president, one of the three conditions agreed to by the company was to set up a legal entity in Nigeria during the first quarter of the year.

Paying taxes and cooperating with the Nigerian government were other things.

It appears that none of the conditions has been met so far this year. The government is going ahead and extending these requirements to other internet companies.

PRESS RELEASE

13th June 2022

There is a Code of Practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms/Internet Intermediaries in Nigeria.

The picture is captioned "N9y3qfyCIu."

June 13, 2017: NITDA Nigeria.

There is a code of practice for interactive computer service platform. These conditions are meant to protect fundamental human rights of Nigerian and non- Nigerian citizens living in the country, as well as define guidelines for interacting on the digital ecosystem.

They are included.

• Establish a legal entity; in other words, register with the country’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
• Appoint a designated country representative to interface with Nigerian authorities.
• Abide by all regulatory demands after establishing a legal presence.
• Comply with all applicable tax obligations on its operations under Nigerian law.
• Provide a comprehensive compliance mechanism to avoid publication of prohibited content[s] and unethical behaviour on their platform.
• Provide information to authorities on harmful accounts, suspected botnets, troll groups, and other coordinated disinformation networks and delete any information that violates Nigerian law within an agreed time.

The activities done on these online platforms have enormous influence over our society, social interaction and economic choices. Hadiza Umar, the agency's head of corporate affairs, said that the Code of Practice was an intervention to recalibrate the relationship of online platforms with Nigerian in order to maximize mutual benefits for our nation.

The draft was written with a presidential order. It collaborated with Nigeria's communications and broadcasting regulatory bodies, and welcomed input from internet companies.

The draft is open to be reviewed and commented on by the public. It is not clear why the agency went ahead to compose this draft, given the backlash it received after it was banned.

Nigeria lifts ban on Twitter, says the social media giant has met conditions

The Nigerian government has tried before to regulate social media platforms. In June of last year, the National Broadcasting Commission was directed by the government to begin the process of licensing the operations of social media and OTT platforms in the country.

According to some people in Nigeria, the latest development on this front is the NITDA draft. Others worry that the Nigerian government might take things too far and suspend the operations of these internet platforms if they don't follow its regulations.

This is a story that is evolving.

Twitter ban in Nigeria to be lifted if platform sets up a local office and pays taxes, president says

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