Meta Platforms Inc. is facing renewed criticism in Nigeria following the appearance of a controversial in-app notification that some users have described as discriminatory.
In the alert, spotted by Daniel Adebowale, a Nigerian Instagram user who shared a screenshot on social media, the platform informed his conversation partner that the user “appeared to be in Nigeria” and warned against sharing personal information unless they knew the person.
The notification quickly sparked outrage on social media, with many Nigerian users accusing Meta of targeting the country unfairly. The company has, however, denied the allegation, stating that the alert was part of a global anti-scam initiative.
“To help protect people from scams, we’ve been testing ways to alert people when they’re chatting to someone new based in another country,” a Meta spokesperson said in an email statement to Techpoint Africa. “This included letting people know which country the other person was in – and was shown no matter where they were, not just in Nigeria.”
Although Meta states that the “test has concluded, and these notifications no longer name individual countries,” the controversy adds to mounting challenges faced by the social media giant in the country. In 2024, the country’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) levied a $220 million fine against the tech giant.
The commission claims Meta violated national data protection rules by failing to provide users with adequate control over how their data was used.
An appeal by Meta was rejected in April 2025, and the company has been ordered to pay within 60 days.
In response, Meta has threatened to exit the Nigerian market, where over 100 million people rely on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, for business and personal communication. The FCCPC has remained defiant.
Not even exiting the country will absolve Meta of the fine, the commission said in a statement, calling the threat “a calculated move aimed at inducing negative public reaction and potentially pressuring the FCCPC to reconsider its decision.”
The dispute in Nigeria adds to Meta’s growing list of regulatory challenges worldwide. The company has recently faced billions in fines across the European Union, particularly over data privacy violations and its handling of cross-border data transfers.
