Nigeria orders probe of Meta, Google, X and AI firms

The Nigerian government has ordered a formal investigation into major global technology companies and artificial intelligence platforms over allegations of anticompetitive conduct and the unauthorized use of news content produced by the country's media organizations. The directive, issued by President Bola Tinubu, was announced by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission on Monday, July 6, 2026.

The investigation follows a joint petition submitted to the presidency by the Nigerian Press Organisation, a coalition representing newspaper proprietors, journalists, broadcasters, and online publishers. The petition names Meta, Alphabet (the parent company of Google), X (formerly Twitter), and certain generative AI platforms operating in Nigeria.

The commission stated it will examine several key allegations. These include claims of market dominance and anticompetitive conduct that could undermine fair competition in Nigeria's digital economy. A central focus will be the alleged unauthorized scraping and commercial use of copyrighted news articles, broadcast materials, and other journalistic content to develop and train generative AI models. The probe will also assess...