Nigeria’s major media and journalism organizations have issued a unified, urgent call to the Federal Government and the National Assembly to protect the Nigerian press from the suffocating dominance of global digital platforms, reports ITREALMS.
The NPO, a powerhouse coalition comprising the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), argued that Nigeria is on the verge of surrendering control of its national discourse to unregulated foreign technology companies.
The organizations characterized the current crisis as more than a simple industry challenge. Global digital platforms now dominate Nigeria’s advertising market and control the algorithms that determine what citizens consume or ignore. While these platforms extract significant revenue offshore, local newsrooms are left struggling to survive.
According to the statement, this isn't just conventional market disruption; it is the rise of private, transnational gatekeepers operating beyond national democratic accountability.
The media bodies warned that the weakening of professional journalism poses grave risks to national security, electoral integrity, and social cohesion. They maintained that no intelligence framework could replace a credible, local information system.
The NPO emphasized that press freedom is an illusion without economic viability. News organizations that cannot pay salaries, fund deep-dive investigations, or retain top-tier professionals are effectively "unfree," regardless of what the Constitution guarantees.
To address this, the coalition pointed to global precedents set by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and South Africa. These nations have introduced competition laws and bargaining frameworks designed to curb the dominance of digital gatekeepers and ensure fair remuneration for the news content that these platforms profit from.
The organizations urged the Nigerian government to adopt a homegrown, legally grounded solution. They proposed utilizing existing digital legislation or targeted amendments to achieve several key goals: recognizing journalism as a public-interest activity, correcting bargaining power imbalances, ensuring fair compensation for local content, and preserving innovation.
The NPO noted that Nigeria already possesses the institutional capacity to act through the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC).
These bodies have the statutory powers to enforce remedies and penalties where necessary to balance the scales.
Describing their appeal as "a call to leadership, not alarm," the NPO warned that the cost of further inaction would be weakened institutions and a rise in misinformation.
Protecting the Nigerian press is not an industry rescue; it is an investment in Nigeria’s standing as a serious constitutional democracy and a stable nation.
The statement available to ITREALMS, was jointly signed by the heads of the five major media bodies: Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru (NPAN), Mr. Eze Anaba (NGE), Comrade Salihu Abdulhamid Dembos (BON), Comrade Danlami Nmodu, (GOCOP), and Comrade Alhassan Yahaya (NUJ).
The coalition expressed its readiness to collaborate with the Presidency, the National Assembly, and regulators to design a fair, forward-looking framework for the digital age.
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