The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the National Assembly to immediately withdraw the proposed Nigeria Data Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2026, warning that it amounts to a “backdoor” attempt to regulate social media and could pave the way for the shutdown of digital platforms in Nigeria.
In a letter dated July 18, 2026, addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, SERAP warned that it would institute legal action if the controversial legislation is passed in its current form.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko (APC, Delta North), seeks to compel social media platforms, data controllers and data processors operating in Nigeria to establish physical offices in the country. It also empowers the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) to prohibit or shut down the operations of any entity that fails to comply within 30 days.
Signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the letter argued that the proposed amendment would hand regulators sweeping powers capable of excluding digital platforms from the Nigerian market, thereby exposing millions of Nigerians to violations of their constitutional rights to freedom of expression and access to information.
According to SERAP, compelling technology companies to maintain physical offices in Nigeria would significantly increase government leverage over digital platforms, making political pressure, censorship demands and retaliation against local employees easier.
“The bill constitutes a backdoor attempt to regulate social media and increase governmental control over online expression through corporate localisation requirements rather than through transparent and constitutionally permissible regulation,” the organisation stated.
SERAP noted that the proposed legislation mirrors earlier attempts to regulate social media, which attracted widespread public criticism and raised serious concerns over human rights.
It argued that although the amendment is presented as a data protection measure, its practical effect would be to create a legal mechanism capable of excluding social media platforms from operating in Nigeria.
The organisation warned that such powers would effectively recreate the consequences of the Federal Government’s suspension of Twitter in 2021, which was later declared unlawful by the ECOWAS Court of Justice in SERAP and Others v. Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The National Assembly should not achieve indirectly through regulatory localisation requirements what it cannot constitutionally achieve directly through restrictions on social media,” SERAP said.
The rights group further contended that the bill grants the NDPC excessive powers without adequate procedural safeguards, including judicial oversight, sufficient compliance timelines or consideration of less restrictive alternatives before shutting down digital platforms.
According to SERAP, the proposed amendment cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny under Section 45 of the 1999 Constitution, which permits restrictions on fundamental rights only where they are lawful, necessary and reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.
It maintained that there is no evidence that the existing Nigeria Data Protection Act is inadequate or that current enforcement mechanisms have failed to justify the sweeping new powers contained in the bill.
SERAP also argued that the legislation would undermine Nigeria’s digital economy by increasing compliance costs for startups, educational institutions, AI developers, research organisations and smaller technology companies, while discouraging innovation and foreign investment.
The organisation further noted that no major democratic country imposes a blanket requirement compelling every social media platform to establish a physical office as a condition for operating.
Citing Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, SERAP insisted that the bill threatens the rights of millions of Nigerians who rely on digital platforms for communication, business, education, civic engagement and political participation.
It also referenced warnings by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression against localisation requirements that could facilitate censorship or increase governmental influence over online platforms.
SERAP urged the National Assembly to reject the bill, describing it as incompatible with Nigeria’s constitutional and international human rights obligations.
The organisation warned that should the legislation be enacted in its current or substantially similar form, it would “promptly take all appropriate legal actions” to challenge its legality in the public interest and protect Nigerians’ digital rights.
