More than four in five Nigerians support some form of regulation for children’s use of social media, according to a 2024 government survey released Thursday by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.
The poll, titled “Proposed Social Media Age Regulation in Nigeria,” was presented at a roundtable in Lagos on child online protection organized by the ministry in collaboration with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).
Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Bosun Tijani released the findings through his senior special adviser, Kasim Sodangi, who said the survey captured responses from 585 Nigerians on issues surrounding age restrictions, enforcement and online safety.
According to the report, 83.4% of respondents supported regulating children’s access to social media platforms. Of those, 64.8% backed outright regulation, while 18.6% supported regulation with a different minimum age threshold.
The survey found that 64.5% of respondents favored setting the minimum social media age at 16 or 17, higher than the commonly used global benchmark of 13 years.
It also reported that 93.5% of respondents expressed either extreme or high concern about children’s safety online, with exposure to harmful content, digital addiction and online grooming identified as the most common risks.
The poll showed that 90.9% of respondents cited exposure to harmful or inappropriate content as the top risk, followed by digital addiction at 83.6% and online grooming at 82.4%.
Sodangi said 97.6% of respondents supported a duty-of-care framework requiring digital platforms to take proactive steps to prevent harm to children.
He added that 74.5% of respondents believed that children and parents lacked sufficient awareness of cybercrime laws and online risks.
Tijani said the findings underscore the need for updated regulations to address emerging digital threats facing children, adding that safeguards are necessary even if they are not foolproof.
“The debate should focus on implementing age restrictions effectively rather than questioning the need for such safeguards,” Tijani said.
He said Nigeria could strengthen enforcement through digital identity systems and platform verification tools.
“The fact that some people may bypass regulations is not a reason for safeguards not to exist,” he said.
National Commissioner of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission Vincent Olatunji said children face growing risks online, including cyberbullying, cyberstalking and exposure to harmful content.
He said protecting children online requires cooperation among government agencies, parents, schools and technology companies.
Participants at the roundtable called for stronger digital literacy programs, improved age-verification systems and greater accountability from social media platforms.
