The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced a significant crackdown on online fraud, impersonation, and harmful content, revealing that major social media platforms – Google, LinkedIn, and TikTok – collectively removed over 28 million Nigerian accounts in 2024. This concerted effort is a result of a collaboration between Nigeria's National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and these digital platforms, aiming to reduce fraudulent activities and enhance crisis management across the nation.

During the National Symposium on Digital Innovation in Crisis Communication held at the National Defence College in Abuja, NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, disclosed these figures. Beyond account removals, a staggering 58.9 million pieces of content were also taken down during the same period. Google alone was responsible for deactivating 9,680,141 accounts, which were linked to various scams, identity fraud, and harmful material. LinkedIn, a platform primarily known for professional networking, removed almost 16 million accounts, while TikTok also took substantial enforcement actions against millions of accounts under its content moderation policies.

Abdullahi expressed particular concern regarding the high number of LinkedIn account removals, given its professional nature. He highlighted this as a stark indicator of how extensively the social media landscape has been compromised by fraudulent practices and misuse. "For me, this is outrageous because LinkedIn is mostly a professional site. So why are people using it to cause crises and other things? They use it for impersonation and for social engineering to defraud organisations and individuals," he stated, underscoring the severity of the issue.

While millions of accounts and pieces of content were removed, it was also noted that 420,000 posts were reinstated following complaints or internal reviews. Abdullahi emphasized the importance of this agreed-upon process for both take-downs and reinstatements, ensuring that content not violating any laws remains online and preventing potential abuse by governments or powerful interests. The NITDA Boss further highlighted that the government's collaboration with these major tech companies has significantly strengthened communication channels and bolstered regulatory frameworks, including Nigeria’s Data Protection Regulation, which ultimately led to the establishment of the Nigerian Data Protection Commission.

These efforts are part of a broader strategy to curb online fraud, harmful content, and misinformation. The 2024 Nigeria compliance report for digital safety revealed that over 13 million social media accounts were deleted across various platforms, with Nigerians filing 754,629 complaints. A total of 58,909,122 pieces of content were removed due to being negative and abusive, though 420,439 of these were later re-uploaded after user appeals and reviews. As the crackdown intensifies, the NITDA Director General explained how emerging digital tools are fundamentally reshaping crisis response and stressed the critical need for more robust national systems to manage these challenges effectively.

Research consistently demonstrates that false news propagates nearly six times faster than verified information, a trend directly contributing to the surge in fraudulent activities and economic disruptions. Abdullahi cited recent instances where misleading online posts have resulted in significant financial losses, reinforcing the urgent necessity for rapid verification mechanisms and coordinated intervention strategies to safeguard the digital space for Nigerian citizens and organizations. The 2023 compliance report further indicated the scale of the problem, with 65,853,581 pieces of content taken down across Google, X (formerly Twitter), Microsoft, and TikTok, following 4,125,283 complaints lodged by Nigerian users concerning harmful content.