The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has issued a stern warning to Nigeria’s National Assembly, demanding the immediate withdrawal of a controversial bill seeking to regulate the operations of bloggers and social media platforms in the country.
In a strongly-worded letter dated April 12, 2025, and addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, SERAP described the bill as a veiled attempt to stifle free expression and suppress digital rights in Nigeria.
The rights group also threatened to take legal action should lawmakers press ahead with the legislation.
The proposed law, 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”, has already passed its first and second readings in the Senate.
If passed into law, the bill would compel bloggers and international social media platforms such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, and TikTok to establish physical offices within Nigeria.
It would also require them to join a government-recognised national bloggers’ association or risk being banned from operating in the country.
SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, condemned the bill, calling it “a blatant attempt to bring back and fast-track the obnoxious and widely rejected social media bill by the back door.”
He stressed that such legislation poses a grave threat to the constitutional right to freedom of expression and could pave the way for authoritarian control over digital spaces.
“Lawmakers should not become arbiters of truth in the public and political domain,” SERAP’s letter stated. “Regulating the activities of bloggers and forcing them to associate would have a significant chilling effect on freedom of expression and lead to censorship or restraint,” it added.
SERAP also warned of the broader ramifications the bill could have on Nigeria’s economy and its international reputation.
The mandatory office requirement, the group said, could disincentivise global tech companies from operating in Nigeria, undermining the country’s growing digital economy and cutting off essential tools used by local businesses.
“The proposed amendment would force international tech companies out of the Nigerian information landscape.
“It would violate the requirement that the right to freedom of expression applies ‘regardless of frontiers,” the group noted.
According to SERAP, the bill’s provisions are inconsistent with Nigeria’s constitutional guarantees under the 1999 Constitution and its obligations under international instruments such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“The amendment would disproportionately suppress a wide range of expressive conduct essential to a democratic society.
“It appears targeted at silencing dissent and criticism of government policies,” the organisation added.
In particular, SERAP flagged the risk that the bill could be misused to compel bloggers to disclose their sources, a move that would deal a blow to press freedom and discourage whistleblowers from coming forward.
“Blogging plays an invaluable role in the free flow of information,” said Oluwadare.
“Bloggers should never be required to register with the government or other official agencies to blog,” he added.
The group also pointed to international legal standards, referencing the 2005 Joint Declaration of Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Expression.
That declaration states that “no one should be required to register with or obtain permission from any public body to operate an Internet service provider, website, blog, or other online information dissemination system.”
SERAP concluded its letter with a call for lawmakers to abandon the bill and prioritize laws that enhance Nigeria’s digital ecosystem and uphold democratic freedoms.
“Nigerian authorities have a legal obligation to ensure an environment in which a diverse range of opinions and ideas can be freely and openly expressed and debated,” the organisation said.
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