Nigeria accuses Meta of pressure campaign over threat to cut off apps

Nigeria accused Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, of launching a “negative” public relations campaign to put pressure on authorities by threatening to withdraw its apps from the country over a $220 million fine.

Meta has contested the fine, imposed last year by Nigeria’s consumer protection agency for an alleged breach of competition rules, but a court in Nigeria’s capital Abuja dismissed its appeal. The company was also slapped with other penalties by the country’s data protection commission and an advertising regulator.

The tech giant has accused the agencies of unfair interpretations of statutes that led to the fines, and said it “may be forced to effectively shut down the Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria in order to mitigate the risk of enforcement measures,” but made no mention of WhatsApp, also owned by Meta. In response, the consumer agency said the threat “does not absolve Meta of liabilities for the outcome of a judicial process.”

Meta’s platforms, especially WhatsApp and Facebook, are among the most used apps in Nigeria, with an estimated 51 million users on WhatsApp. The apps have proven to be particularly useful for small business owners to sell to customers.

By Alexander Onukwue, Semafor

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