Nigerian authorities levelled serious accusations against Meta, such as abuse of market dominance and discriminatory practices. Credit: Joao Serafim/Shutterstock.

Meta, the parent company of social media giants Facebook and WhatsApp, has been fined $220m by Nigerian authorities for “multiple and repeated” breaching of consumer and data protection laws. 

In a statement on 19 July 2024, Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) Ag. executive vice president/CEO Dr Adamu Abdullahi detailed the findings of an extensive investigation.  

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The investigation was conducted in collaboration with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission from May 2021 to December 2023.  

It highlighted that Meta “engaged in invasive practices against data subjects/consumers in Nigeria”. 

Abdullahi has also levelled serious accusations against Meta, including abuse of market dominance, discriminatory practices, and denying Nigerians the right to determine how their data are used. 

In addition, Abdullahi alleges that Meta has been sharing Nigerians’ personal data without authorisation, including cross-border storage of data which violates the country’s existing and old law.  

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Beyond the $220m fine, the FCCPC has demanded that Meta aligns with local laws and stops exploiting Nigerian consumers or engaging in market abuse.  

“The Final Order of the Commission mandates steps and actions Meta Parties must take to comply with prevailing law and cease the exploitation of Nigerian consumers and their market abuse, as well as desist from future similar or other conduct/practices that do not meet nationally applicable standards and undermine the rights of consumers,” the FCCPC statement read. 

FCCPC made it clear that Meta was fully aware of the 38-month investigation that led to this outcome.  

Meta has also encountered resistance in Europe and other regions due to claims of violating data protection laws. 

Recently, Meta suspended its artificial intelligence (AI) assistant in response to a prohibition by Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority, which barred the company from training its AI models with personal data from Brazilian citizens. 

Previously in May 2023, Meta faced a record $1.3bn fine by the European Union for violating its data privacy rules and failing to protect EU Facebook account data from US spy agencies.