Civil society coalition calls for an investigation into TikTok disruption in Nigeria
A coalition of Nigerian civil society organisations has called for an independent investigation into reported disruptions to TikTok access in parts of northern Nigeria, while urging greater transparency from authorities, telecom operators, and TikTok.
A coalition of 12 civil society organisations has called for an urgent investigation into reported disruptions affecting TikTok access in parts of northern Nigeria, including Kaduna, Kebbi, Kano, and Sokoto.
According to the coalition, users began reporting intermittent access problems around 14 September 2026. The disruption has reportedly affected loading videos and uploading content through mobile-data connections, while some users have regained access through virtual private networks.
The organisations said their preliminary findings have not established whether the disruption results from a technical failure, network routing problem, platform-side issue, traffic management measure, or intentional restriction. They therefore use the term ‘TikTok disruption’ pending further technical evidence.
The coalition called on the Nigerian Communications Commission, the National Information Technology Development Agency, the Office of the National Security Adviser, affected state authorities, telecommunications operators, and TikTok to investigate the cause and publish their findings.
It also called for independent technical testing to determine whether the disruption involves DNS interference, IP or domain blocking, protocol interference, throttling, routing anomalies, application-specific filtering, or differences between networks and locations.
If government action is found to be involved, the organisations called for the relevant authority to disclose the legal basis, scope, duration, and purpose of any instruction or order affecting access to TikTok.
The statement also calls for greater transparency around future Internet disruptions, including notification of affected services, causes, geographic and temporal scope, restoration timelines, and post-incident reports.
The coalition stressed that users, journalists, researchers, and civil society organisations should be able to document and report Internet disruptions without reprisals. It also called on TikTok to clarify whether technical problems or changes to its infrastructure may have affected users in northern Nigeria.
The organisations said they will continue monitoring reports from affected users and engaging relevant stakeholders as further evidence becomes available.
