Nigeria’s children are unsafe online. The law must step up

BY SHIRLEY EWANG

Imagine logging on, and almost every profile you meet could belong to a predator. That is Nigeria’s reality today: 97% of Nigeria’s 62.4 million children using the internet are exposed to cyber risks, including sexual exploitation through chat rooms, social media, and email. Even more alarming, 89% have already received unsolicited sexual images.

New data from Gatefield’s State of Online Harms 2025 report shows that nearly half of Nigerian internet users experience online harms regularly, from cyber‑bullying to gender‑based harassment to digital abuse, with women and youth most at risk.

These numbers are not abstract. They are the product of deliberate platform design and systemic failure. Big Tech’s algorithms prioritise engagement over safety, exposing children to predators while refusing to implement meaningful safeguards.

Meanwhile, global leaders are acting. At the Digital Sovereignty Summit, French President Emmanuel Macron warned of the urgency of regulating online spaces to protect children, calling for tighter European oversight. Nigeria faces the same threats, but shows none of the same urgency.

Reporting mechanisms exist, but rarely protect. Sixty percent of Nigerians report harmful content, yet nearly a third of complaints produce no action. Platforms profit from engagement while accountability fails.

The consequences are predictable and horrifying. In Edo State, a father posted explicit images of his four-year-old daughter, Sarah, online. The content remained accessible until public outrage forced police intervention. No algorithm detected it.

No moderator flagged it. No platform intervened. Until Nigeria reclaims responsibility for its children’s digital safety and enforces consequences on platforms that fail, incidents like this will continue.

Outrage alone is not enough. Child safety requires legal frameworks, enforcement, and infrastructure. The Child Online Access Protection Bill must be fast-tracked immediately, mandating clear obligations for platforms: robust content moderation, mandatory reporting of child abuse, and penalties for non-compliance. Platforms should maintain local offices staffed with Nigerian moderators fluent in local languages and cultural context, accountable when systems fail.

Other nations offer proof that this works. Brazil, Australia, and Rwanda have passed laws protecting minors online, implementing age verification and imposing fines for non-compliance. These measures have demonstrably reduced online child exploitation. Nigeria must adopt similar standards.

Digital literacy must also be part of the solution. Children and adults alike need education on how online spaces work, how algorithms shape content, and how to identify and protect themselves from scams and abuse. A national Digital Citizens Charter could define user rights and responsibilities, ensuring accountability without curbing free expression.

Every day the bill is delayed is another day Nigerian children remain exposed, and prey to a system designed to profit from their attention and vulnerability. Platforms
built to connect us are failing to protect our most vulnerable. If the government does not act decisively, it is complicit.

It is time for Nigeria to act decisively: pass the law, enforce it rigorously, and demand accountability from platforms. Anything less is a betrayal of its children.

Shirley Ewang is advocacy lead at Gatefield, where she works on digital rights and democracy in Nigeria and across Africa.