The Nigerian government has officially ordered the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to initiate an in-depth investigation into several global technology companies, including Meta, Alphabet, X, and developers of generative artificial intelligence (AI) platforms. This decisive step was taken following a petition from the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO) regarding alleged unfair business practices in the digital space.
The Director of Corporate Affairs at the FCCPC, Ondaje Ijagwu, revealed that this action is a direct directive from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The government is responding to concerns from the media industry, which feels aggrieved by the massive use of copyrighted journalistic materials to train AI models without any fair compensation mechanism for content publishers.
In addition to the compensation issue, authorities will examine the alleged abuse of dominant market positions by tech companies in the digital market, which is deemed to threaten the sustainability of the local media industry. This investigation will focus on assessing whether the practices of these companies violate the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) of 2018.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the FCCPC, Tunji Bello, emphasized that his agency will conduct this process based on the principles of transparency and independence. He added that the investigation is not a form of pre-judgment, but rather a factual step to ensure that Nigeria's digital ecosystem remains competitive, fair, and continuously respects applicable legal regulations.
