Nigeria Investigates Meta, Google and X Over Unlicensed Use of News Content in AI Training

Nigeria's Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, or FCCPC, announced on Monday that it has opened an investigation into major technology companies and generative AI platforms. The probe centers on allegations of unlawful use of journalistic content and practices that restrict fair competition in the media market.

The investigation began after the Nigerian Press Organisation submitted a joint petition to President Tinubu, describing the media industry's growing unease over the practices of major tech companies. The president directed the FCCPC to look into the matter, making Nigeria one of a growing number of countries outside Europe and North America to formally bring AI-related charges against big tech.

Scope of the investigation

The FCCPC said it will examine two separate but related issues. The first concerns market dominance and anticompetitive practices by Meta, Alphabet and X in Nigeria's digital advertising and content distribution market. The second, closely tied to AI, concerns the unauthorized use of news articles and other journalistic content to develop and train generative AI models.

The commission also said it will investigate whether Nigerian newsrooms ever had a genuine opportunity to negotiate fair compensation or any commercial terms for the use of their content. Publishers say the answer is no, arguing that the platforms simply scraped and processed their material without seeking consent.

The NPO is increasingly concerned about the actions of major technology companies, including Meta, Alphabet, X and certain generative AI platforms, pointing to practices that may undermine fair competition - Ondaja Ijagwu, FCCPC spokesperson

Nigeria joins a global trend

The case fits into a broader international pattern of disputes between news publishers and big tech. Canada and Australia have long pushed Meta and Google to pay publishers for traffic generated by links to their articles, while lawsuits over AI models trained on copyrighted material are already underway in the United States and Europe.

What sets the Nigerian investigation apart is that it combines antitrust allegations with AI-training allegations in a single proceeding, potentially giving the regulator broader tools than copyright lawsuits alone. The FCCPC has the power to impose financial penalties and order changes to the business practices of companies operating in Nigeria.

Implications for the content market

For Polish publishers and content creators, the case matters as a precedent. It shows that countries outside the European Union and the United States are increasingly turning to competition law, not just copyright law, to force AI platforms to pay for the content they use. It is a model that European publishers' associations could also invoke in their talks with the European Commission.

Meta, Alphabet and X have not yet publicly commented on the investigation. The FCCPC did not give a timeline for the proceedings or specify possible sanctions, saying only that the probe will cover both market practices and how training data for generative AI models was obtained.

Sources: Nigeria probes big tech, AI firms for unlawful media content use (thehindu.com), Nigeria probes big tech, AI firms for unlawful media content use (nst.com.my)