The tech companies’ probe

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has been directed by the federal government to commence the investigation of major technology companies, including Meta, Alphabet (Google), X (formally Twitter) and several Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms operating in Nigeria, over alleged exploitation of Nigerian media.

The order came on the heels of a joint petition to the Presidency by the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), comprising the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP).

The major tech giants have been accused of activities, which undermine fair competition, threaten the viability of Nigerian media organisations and infringe the rights of content creators and publishers. The tech companies have also been accused of market dominance and anti-competitive conduct. Some of them have allegedly engaged on unauthorised use of copyrighted journalistic content to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) models and drive platform traffic without fair compensation.

The federal government’s position on the matter was conveyed to the FCCPC through a letter signed by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, following an order by President Bola Tinubu. Available information from the commission shows that the probe should examine concerns over the growing influence of digital platforms on the nation’s media industry and find out whether any of the tech companies have breached the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018 or any other applicable law.

Specifically, the commission will also examine claims of unauthorized extraction, scraping, ingestion, and commercial use of copyrighted news report, broadcast materials, and other original journalistic content for the development and training of Generative AI models. It will equally investigate the alleged absence of equitable commercial arrangements between global tech companies and Nigerian news publishers, including claims that media organisations have been denied meaningful opportunities to negotiate fair compensation for the use of their content.

Instructively, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive of FCCPC, Tunji Bello, has assured the stakeholders and Nigerians that the commission would conduct an independent, transparent and evidence-based investigation to establish the facts. He also revealed that the commission recognised the strategic role of the media in sustaining the country’s democracy and the importance of technology in promoting innovation and economic growth.

Bello reiterated that the FCCPC’s responsibility was to ensure that competition within the digital ecosystem remained fair, transparent, and consistent with Nigerian law. He had, in a statement issued by the Director of Corporate Affairs of FCCPC, Ondaje Ijagwu, stressed that the investigation should not be interpreted as a presumption of wrongdoing against any company but will provide an opportunity for all parties to present relevant information while the commission will objectively determine whether any conduct resulted in anti-competitive outcomes or unfair business practices.

The new probe of major technological companies in the country is sequel to an earlier investigation of Meta by FCCPC, which led to a landmark judgement last year. The company was fined $220 million for violations of FCCPA, including data privacy breaches. However, the company has appealed against the judgement.

We recall the development in South Africa where investigations by the South African Competition Commission led to Google agreeing to compensate South African news media with R688 million or $40million annually for such exploitation for between three and five years. The FCCPC can draw some lessons from the South African case.

The plan to probe the technology companies in Nigeria over alleged exploitation of Nigerian media is a welcome development. By ordering the probe, the federal government has demonstrated that it is taking the allegations seriously. The probe will unravel if the allegations are true or not. Its outcome will definitely determine the future relationship between the giant tech companies and Nigerian media. It is also hoped that the outcome of the probe will mark an end to the alleged exploitation of Nigerian media by the global tech companies.

Therefore, we urge the FCCPC to be independent, thorough, transparent and objective in the investigation. All parties to the matter should be given fair hearing and equal treatment before the law. The investigation must be guided by due process and be evidence-based as promised by the commission.

The FCCPC was established by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA), which was signed into law in January 2019. It replaced and subsumed the former Consumer Protection Council (CPC). The commission was created to promote fair, efficient, and competitive markets in the Nigerian economy and to protect the rights of all consumers.