The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has requested the Senate President Godswill Akpabio and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, to reject and withdraw the Nigeria Data Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2026, describing it as a “backdoor attempt” to regulate social media and restrict online expression.
It expressed worries that “the bill would create sweeping powers capable of shutting down or excluding social media platforms from the Nigerian market and expose millions of Nigerians to serious violations of their constitutionally and internationally guaranteed human rights.”
The Nigeria Data Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2026, sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko (APC, Delta North), seeks to compel social media platforms, data controllers and data processors operating in Nigeria to establish physical offices in the country, and empowers the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) to shut down or prohibit the operations of any entity that fails to comply within 30 days.
One of the sanctions contained in the bill is the exclusion of digital platforms from Nigeria for not having a physical office in the country. This corporate localisation requirement for big tech companies is being suspected as a vehicle for the government to expand control over digital platforms and Nigerians’ online expression.
SERAP pointed out that the proposed legislation resembles the Nigerian government’s 222-day clampdown on Twitter (now X) which took effect on June 4, 2021. The ban was lifted at midnight on January 13, 2022, after the platform agreed to Nigerian laws, local taxation, and the appointment of a country representative.
The ECOWAS Court of Justice, while delivering judgment in SERAP and Others vs. Federal Republic of Nigeria, held that the suspension of Twitter violated the rights to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom protected under the African Charter.
According to a statement issued at the weekend by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP is arguing that the proposed law will empower the NDPC to impose sanctions comparable to a nationwide restriction on digital communication without the procedural guarantees ordinarily required whenever fundamental rights are at stake.
While calling on the National Assembly to drop the legislation, it said, “A law empowering regulators to exclude digital platforms from Nigeria inevitably interferes with the rights of the people who rely upon those platforms.”
According to the rights organisation, the proposed section 5(p) in the bill empowers the NDPC to prohibit entities from conducting operations in Nigeria without adequate procedural safeguards.
Yet, the bill contains no requirement for prior judicial authorisation, no obligation to consider less restrictive alternatives, no meaningful opportunity to remedy alleged non-compliance beyond the arbitrary 30-day period, and no requirement to consider the impact of any prohibition on the fundamental rights of millions of Nigerians, it said.
“The proposed amendment completely fails the constitutional and international human rights law requirements of necessity and proportionality,” the statement read in part.
