ABUJA, July 7 – Nigeria’s President Tinubu has directed the country’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to investigate major technology companies and Generative Artificial Intelligence platforms over allegations of anti-competitive practices and the unauthorised use of content produced by Nigerian media organisations.
The directive follows a joint petition submitted by the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), which includes the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers.
According to the FCCPC, the investigation will examine allegations against Meta, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, X and certain Generative AI platforms operating in Nigeria with the commission to determine whether their activities breach the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018 or any other applicable law.
The inquiry will focus on claims of market dominance, anti-competitive conduct and the alleged unauthorised extraction, scraping and commercial use of copyrighted news articles, broadcast materials and other original journalistic content to develop and train AI models. It will also review complaints that Nigerian publishers have been denied fair compensation and commercial agreements for the use of their content.
FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Tunji Bello, said the investigation would be independent, transparent and evidence-based. He added that the probe does not presume any wrongdoing and that all parties involved will have an opportunity to present their positions before any conclusions are reached.
The move comes months after President Bola Tinubu pledged support for the Nigerian media industry’s campaign against what it described as the growing dominance of global technology companies.
The issue mirrors developments in other countries. In South Africa, investigations by the Competition Commission led to an agreement under which Google will pay local news organisations R688 million annually for between three and five years.
The FCCPC’s latest inquiry also follows its earlier $220 million penalty against Meta over alleged breaches of Nigeria’s competition and consumer protection laws, a decision the company has appealed.
