The Foundation for Digital Justice (FDJ) has called for stronger accountability by social media platforms and judicial oversight of government requests to remove online content and suspend user accounts in Nigeria.

The foundation made the call at its Digital Rights Dialogue 2026, held in Lagos on Friday, where lawyers, journalists, technology experts, security officials and civil society organisations examined challenges facing digital rights protection in the country.

The dialogue, organised with support from Ominira Initiative, was themed “Advancing Digital Freedom, Accountability and Good Governance in Nigeria.”

Participants expressed concern about the growing influence of technology companies over users’ data and online activities, particularly their content moderation policies, which they said sometimes result in account suspensions without clear explanations or effective channels for appeal.

Daniel Ojukwu, an investigative journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, said users frequently experienced restrictions on platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp over alleged violations of community guidelines.

He noted that although content moderation was necessary, the policies and systems guiding such decisions often failed to reflect Nigeria’s social and cultural realities.

Speaking during the dialogue, digital rights lawyer Samuel Okedara described digital rights as fundamental human rights exercised through digital platforms.

He identified freedom of expression, privacy, and freedom of association and assembly, protected under Sections 39, 37 and 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, respectively, as key digital rights.

Mr Okedara said restrictions on these rights must be provided for by law, pursue legitimate constitutional objectives under Section 45 and must not be disproportionate or excessive.

The stakeholders’ dialogue session, moderated by Mr Festus Ogun, the executive director, explored the realities of digital rights in Nigeria.

“One recurring point was the power of big tech companies. Stakeholders observed that these platforms hold significant control over users’ data and online presence. In addition, it was noted that a chain of rights violations occurs, and a pivotal one is content moderation,” he said.

A representative of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre, SP Abubakar A. Smart, acknowledged that public order and national security considerations sometimes informed government requests to platforms but agreed on the importance of judicial oversight.

He also urged young Nigerians to take greater responsibility for the digital spaces they occupy.

The stakeholders called for stronger continental cooperation, urging the African Union to take a more active position on digital rights and platform accountability across the continent.

Mr Ojukwu argued that technology companies would continue to treat Africa as a secondary market unless the continent leveraged its collective market power to demand better protections.

Meanwhile, Lydia Ogba, a representative of the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC), raised concerns about data privacy in the age of artificial intelligence.

Participants attributed the trend partly to the burden on the judiciary, arguing that delays and an overworked court system could discourage citizens from pursuing legal remedies for digital rights violations.

The dialogue brought together stakeholders, including responsible AI researcher Kingsley Owadara, lawyer Farouk Obisanya, technology entrepreneur Rasheed Aro, software engineer Adelaja Ibrahim and Kehinde Adegboyega, executive director of the Human Rights Journalists Network.