The Nigerian Press Organisation has warned that the nation’s social cohesion, security and democratic governance are being put at risk by unregulated global digital gatekeepers.
The NPO said in a statement on Tuesday that the warning had become expedient as algorithms controlled from outside Nigeria continued to dominate public discourse, manipulate narratives and relegate professional journalism.
The NPO is the umbrella body of media organisations, including the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria, the Nigeria Union of Journalists and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers.
The statement was signed by the presidents of the bodies: Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru (NPAN), Mr Eze Anaba (NGE), Salihu Dembos (BON), Mr Danlami Nmodu (GCOP) and Mr Alhassan Yahaya (NUJ).
The organisation warned that allowing digitally manipulated narratives to continue unchecked would worsen misinformation and disinformation, fuelling polarisation, grievance mobilisation and insecurity across the country.
The statement read, “The rapid rise of global digital platforms has fundamentally altered Nigeria’s information environment. While these platforms have expanded access and innovation, they have also created a structural imbalance of power that now threaten the sustainability of professional journalism – the backbone of informed citizenship and accountable governance.
“Today, global platforms dominate digital advertising markets. Algorithms controlled outside Nigeria determine what Nigerians see, amplify or ignore. Nigerian news content is monetised at scale without proportionate reinvestment in local journalism.
“Revenue that once sustained domestic newsrooms is increasingly extracted offshore. This is not a conventional market disruption. It is the emergence of private, transnational gatekeepers over public discourse, operating beyond the effective reach of national democratic accountability.”
The NPO called on the Federal Government to protect professional journalism in the interest of national stability, democratic durability and Nigeria’s standing as a serious constitutional democracy.
It further cautioned that allowing “opaque commercial algorithms” to control Nigeria’s democratic conversation would result in weakened institutions, diminished public trust, rising misinformation and fragile national cohesion.
“In a multi-ethnic, multi-religious federation, credible journalism plays a stabilising role. When trusted news institutions weaken, misinformation, disinformation and digitally manipulated narratives expand unchecked, fuelling polarisation, grievance mobilisation and insecurity.
“No counterterrorism, policing or intelligence framework can fully compensate for a collapsed information order.
“Elections, public accountability and citizen participation depend on reliable information. When professional journalism is displaced by algorithmic virality, democratic processes become vulnerable to distortion, foreign influence and coordinated falsehoods,” the statement added.
The NPO stressed that professional journalism should be recognised not merely as a commercial activity but as strategic civic infrastructure, comparable in importance to education, public health and the judiciary.
It said, “Its outputs – verified facts, investigative scrutiny and balanced reporting – are public goods. Yet the current digital market structure allows global platforms to extract disproportionate value from this public good while weakening its producers.”
The organisation warned that the state could no longer remain neutral or fail to intervene in protecting Nigeria’s information ecosystem.
“Leading democracies facing similar challenges have concluded that non-intervention is no longer a neutral option. The European Union and the United Kingdom have adopted proactive competition and digital market rules to curb gatekeeper dominance,” it stated.
The NPO urged institutions such as the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Nigerian Copyright Commission to ensure market correction and penalise actions that undermine national cohesion.
As a way forward, it called on the Presidency and the National Assembly, either through existing digital legislation or targeted amendments, to recognise journalism as a public-interest activity, correct extreme bargaining power imbalances, ensure fair remuneration for Nigerian news content, and preserve innovation, competition and consumer choice.
“This appeal is not a request for protectionism. It is a call for strategic leadership to ensure that Nigeria’s democratic conversation is not quietly outsourced to opaque commercial algorithms beyond national control.
“The cost of inaction will not be borne solely by publishers, broadcasters or journalists. It will be paid in weakened institutions, diminished public trust, rising misinformation and a more fragile national cohesion.
“Protecting the Nigerian press is not an industry rescue; it is an investment in national stability, democratic durability and Nigeria’s standing as a serious constitutional democracy.
“NPO stands ready to collaborate with the Federal Government, the National Assembly, regulators, broadcasters, editors, civil society and technology companies to design a fair, forward-looking Nigerian solution,” the statement added.
PUNCH.
