Senate moves to compel Facebook, X, Instagram, others to have offices in Nigeria
The Senate on Tuesday continued with the legislative process on a bill seeking social media platforms to establish physical offices within the country.
The proposed legislation, titled ‘A Bill for an Act to amend the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, to mandate the establishment of physical offices within the territorial boundaries of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by Social Media Platforms, and for Related Matters, 2025 (SB. 650)’, sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko (APC, Delta North), passed second reading during plenary.
Leading debate on the bill that passed first reading on November 21, 2024, Nwoko said it is not only of national importance, but also central to Nigeria’s sovereignty, economy, and technological development as it “seeks to correct a glaring omission in how multinational social media companies engage with our country”.
He noted that Nigeria as Africa’s most populous nation with over 220 million people has a significant digital presence, ranking first in Africa and second globally in terms of social media usage, spending an average of three hours and 46 minutes daily online, according to a Global Web Index report cited by Business Insider Africa.
The lawmaker added that despite the high engagement, multinational social media corporations such as Facebook, X, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat do not maintain physical offices in Nigeria, unlike in other climes.
Senator Nwoko outlined several challenges resulting from the absence of social media offices in Nigeria, including limited local representation, economic losses as well as challenges in legal and data protection compliance
