Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has threatened to suspend operations of Facebook and Instagram in Nigeria, citing mounting regulatory pressure and what it calls “unrealistic” demands from Nigerian authorities.
The tech giant issued the warning in a recent court filing obtained by the BBC. The move comes as Meta faces a $220 million fine from Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) over alleged data privacy violations.
The penalty follows a 38-month investigation carried out jointly by the FCCPC and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) into the data practices of Meta and its messaging service, WhatsApp.
Although the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal upheld the fine in an April 25 ruling, Meta has vowed to challenge the decision. The court has given the company until the end of June to comply.
To avoid potential enforcement action, Meta stated in its filing that it may be forced to “effectively shut down” Facebook and Instagram services in Nigeria. However, the company made no mention of WhatsApp.
Meta’s core dispute is with the NDPC, which it accuses of misinterpreting the country’s data protection laws.
The NDPC has separately fined Meta $32.8 million for privacy breaches, while the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has imposed a $37.5 million fine over alleged unauthorized advertising content.
One of the conditions Meta finds problematic is the requirement to obtain prior approval before transferring Nigerian users’ data abroad—a move the company calls impractical. It also rejected NDPC’s directive to display educational videos about data privacy on its platforms, calling the request “unworkable.”
The FCCPC insisted that the penalties followed a thorough investigation conducted from May 2021 to December 2023 in collaboration with the NDPC.
