President Bola Ahmed 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 commercial use of Nigerian media content without adequate compensation.
The directive follows complaints by leading Nigerian media organisations that global digital platforms are profiting from locally produced news while undermining the sustainability of journalism.
The FCCPC disclosed the development in a statement issued on Monday by its Director of Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu.
The investigation was triggered by a joint petition submitted to the Presidency by the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), which comprises 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).
The Federal Government’s directive was conveyed to the FCCPC through a letter signed by Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation.
According to the Commission, the investigation will cover major technology companies including Meta, Alphabet (Google’s parent company), X (formerly Twitter), as well as several generative AI platforms operating in Nigeria.
Although the FCCPC did not identify specific AI companies, it said the inquiry would examine “certain generative AI platforms,” a category that could include developers of widely used AI tools.
The Commission said the investigation stems from growing concerns within Nigeria’s media industry that technology platforms are benefiting commercially from journalistic content without providing fair compensation to publishers.
Tunji Bello, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, said the investigation would be transparent, evidence-based and impartial.
According to him, the Commission recognises both the vital role of the media in strengthening Nigeria’s democracy and the importance of technology in driving innovation and economic growth.
He stressed that the inquiry is not based on any presumption of wrongdoing but is intended to establish the facts and determine whether any company’s conduct violates Nigeria’s competition laws.
Bello assured all affected parties that they would have an opportunity to present their positions before any regulatory decisions are made.
The FCCPC said the inquiry will examine whether the activities of the companies breach the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018 or any other applicable law.
Among the issues to be investigated are:
- Alleged anti-competitive practices by major digital platforms.
- Claims that Nigerian publishers are denied fair opportunities to negotiate commercial agreements.
- Whether technology companies have commercially benefited from Nigerian news content without adequate compensation.
- The alleged unauthorised extraction, scraping, ingestion and use of copyrighted news articles, broadcast materials and other journalistic content to develop and train generative AI models.
The Commission noted that similar concerns have emerged in other countries.
It cited South Africa, where media organisations reached an agreement with Google after an investigation by the South African Competition Commission.
Under that arrangement, Google committed to pay South African news publishers R688 million (about $40 million) annually for between three and five years as compensation for the use of their content.
