Tinubu Orders Probe of Google, Meta, X, AI Platforms Over Exploitation of Nigerian Media Content

• President Bola Tinubu has ordered the FCCPC to investigate Google, Meta, X and Generative AI platforms over allegations of exploiting Nigerian media content.

President Bola Tinubu has directed the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to investigate major global technology companies and Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms over allegations of anti-competitive practices and the unlawful exploitation of content belonging to Nigerian media organisations.

The directive followed a joint petition submitted to the Presidency by the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), comprising the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP).

According to a statement issued by the FCCPC, the investigation will focus on companies including Meta, Alphabet (Google), X (formerly Twitter), and certain Generative AI platforms operating in Nigeria.

The commission stated that the firms are being investigated over allegations of “anti-competitive practices, unlawful exploitation of news content, and other potentially unfair market conduct.”

The NPO argued that the activities of the technology companies are “capable of undermining fair competition, the commercial viability of Nigerian media organisations, and the legitimate rights of content creators and publishers.”

FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman and CEO, Tunji Bello, said the investigation would be “independent, transparent and evidence-based,” stressing that “this inquiry is not directed at any entity by presumption of wrongdoing.”

According to Bello, the commission will determine whether the companies’ activities amount to violations of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018, particularly allegations relating to market dominance, unfair business practices, and the unauthorised “extraction, scraping, ingestion and commercial utilisation” of copyrighted news content to train Generative AI models.

The FCCPC will also examine complaints that Nigerian publishers have been denied “meaningful opportunities to negotiate fair compensation and appropriate commercial arrangements” for the use of their journalistic content.

The development comes as several countries continue pushing digital platforms to compensate news publishers for content used on their services.

The FCCPC noted that the outcome of the investigation could significantly shape the future of journalism, digital regulation and the relationship between global technology companies and Nigerian media organisations.