The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to urgently investigate major global technology companies over allegations of unfair practices affecting Nigeria’s digital economy, media sustainability, privacy rights and competition.
In its petition, SERAP accused companies including Google, Meta, Apple, Microsoft (Bing), X, TikTok, Amazon and YouTube of using opaque algorithms and market dominance in ways that could harm Nigerian media organisations, businesses and citizens.
SERAP also urged the FCCPC to convene a public hearing into allegations such as algorithmic discrimination, data exploitation, revenue diversion and anti-competitive conduct arguing that dominant platforms now function as private gatekeepers of information distribution and digital commerce without sufficient transparency.
The group said that if established, the allegations may amount to breaches of Nigeria’s competition framework, warning that failure by the FCCPC to act could trigger legal steps to compel regulatory intervention.
Why this matter is because if the FCCPC opens a formal probe, it could reshape how big platforms operate in Nigeria especially around algorithm transparency, advertising revenue flows, data practices and the survival of local media businesses that depend on platform traffic and monetisation.
