SERAP Threatens to Sue Nigeria’s National Assembly Over ‘Backdoor’ Social Media Bill

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has threatened to drag the National Assembly to court over the proposed Nigeria Data Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2026, describing the legislation as a backdoor attempt to regulate social media and expand governmental control over online expression in Nigeria.

In a letter dated July 18, 2026, addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, SERAP urged lawmakers to immediately reject and withdraw the bill. The organisation warned that it would institute legal action if the legislation is passed in its current or substantially similar form.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko (APC, Delta North), seeks to compel social media platforms, data controllers and data processors operating in Nigeria, including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and Instagram, to establish physical offices in the country. It also empowers the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) to prohibit or shut down the operations of any entity that fails to comply with the requirement within 30 days.

SERAP argued that although the amendment is presented as a measure to strengthen regulatory compliance and consumer protection, its practical effect is far more expansive. According to the organisation, compelling technology companies to establish local offices would significantly increase government leverage over digital platforms, facilitate political pressure, make censorship demands easier, and expose local employees to retaliation.

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“The Bill constitutes a backdoor attempt to regulate social media and increase governmental control over online expression through corporate localisation requirements rather than through transparent and constitutionally permissible regulation,” SERAP stated.

The rights group recalled the judgment of the ECOWAS Court of Justice in SERAP and Others v. Federal Republic of Nigeria, which held that the Federal Government’s suspension of Twitter in 2021 violated the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. SERAP warned that although the current proposal differs from the Twitter suspension in form, it creates the possibility of achieving the same result indirectly by empowering regulators to prohibit digital platforms from operating in Nigeria.

SERAP further argued that the bill lacks critical safeguards, including no requirement for prior judicial authorisation before digital platforms can be prohibited from operating, no obligation to consider less restrictive alternatives, and no meaningful opportunity for entities to remedy non-compliance beyond the arbitrary 30-day period. The organisation also warned that mandatory localisation requirements would undermine Nigeria’s digital economy by increasing compliance costs for startups, educational institutions, research organisations, artificial intelligence developers and smaller technology companies.

“Should the Bill be enacted into law in its current or substantially similar form, SERAP shall promptly take all appropriate legal actions to challenge its legality in the public interest and to ensure that Nigerians’ fundamental rights are fully protected,” the organisation stated.

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