TikTok suspends late-night live feature for Nigeria after sexual exploitation
TikTok has temporarily disabled its late-night LIVE feature in Nigeria following a spike in broadcasts containing explicit sexual acts and other adult content.
The restriction, announced through an in-app system notification on Monday, said the app was conducting an investigation to “ensure the platform remains safe and our community stays protected”.
TikTok did not disclose how long the shutdown will last.
Nigerians, according to the app, turned TikTok LIVE into a hotspot for explicit entertainment, often hosting late-night sessions where people openly engaged in sexual intercourse while thousands of viewers watched.
Some hosts performed erotic acts for virtual gifts, while others staged coordinated adult “shows” to attract quick earnings from the app’s gifting system.
At TikTok’s West Africa Safety Summit in Dakar, Senegal, the company disclosed that in the second quarter of 2025, it issued warnings and demonetisation penalties to more than 2.3 million LIVE sessions and over one million creators for violating its LIVE monetisation rules.
TikTok added that 49,512 Nigerian LIVE sessions were banned during the same period, making Nigeria one of the highest-enforcement markets in the region.
With the new limitation, Nigerian creators will not be able to host or watch LIVE sessions late at night, the period most associated with the surge in sexual content. TikTok said the measure is temporary and part of a broader review of safety practices within the country.
The company has previously implemented similar restrictions in other regions facing outbreaks of policy-violating livestreams.
While some TikTok users welcome the move as necessary to curb sexual exploitation, others complain of the economic impact on legitimate creators who rely on the platform for income.
One user applauded the restriction, saying, “I think this is long overdue because Nigerians abuse almost everything. I expected this because tell me why I will go on somebody’s live stream, 1:00 a.m., and girls are showing their breasts, I just feel bad for those who live stream genuinely to make money.”
Another user said, “Why TikTok go ban live at night for Nigeria they don collect atije atimu for our hand oo.”
“Atije atimu” in the Yoruba language means livelihood.
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