The Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has disclosed that three major global technology platforms, Google, LinkedIn and TikTok, deactivated more than 28 million accounts in the past year for fraud, impersonation and harmful content, many of them connected to Nigerian online activity.
Kashifu Abdullahi, the Director-General of the National made the revelation in Abuja on Monday at a symposium on digital innovations in crisis communication organised by the Centre for Crisis Communication.
He said the figures explain the scale of abusive behaviour proliferating across Nigeria’s digital ecosystem, warning that social media is increasingly being weaponised to mislead the public, target organisations and exploit individuals.
According to him, Google alone shut down 9,680,141 accounts, while LinkedIn, which he noted is “mostly a professional site,” removed nearly 16 million accounts. TikTok also conducted large-scale suspensions within the period.
“Just three platforms, Google, LinkedIn and TikTok, deactivated over 28 million accounts last year.
“LinkedIn removed almost 16 million. For me, this is outrageous because LinkedIn is mostly a professional site. So why are people using it to cause crises? They use it for impersonation and social engineering to defraud organisations and individuals,” he said.
Beyond the account shutdowns, Abdullahi said the platforms removed more than 58.9 million pieces of harmful content linked to Nigeria within the same period, saying that around 420,000 posts were reinstated after appeals or internal reviews.
He explained that these outcomes reflect an improving collaboration between the Nigerian government and major technology companies to tackle disinformation, online scams, extremist messaging and coordinated digital abuse.
However, he cautioned that safeguards must be in place to prevent governments misusing takedown mechanisms to silence critics.
“If content is not violating any laws in Nigeria, there is no way we can just say take it down,” he said, calling for transparent, rights-based reinstatement processes.
Abdullahi added that the strengthened cooperation has enhanced communication between the platforms and Nigerian regulators, supporting reforms such as the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation, which eventually led to the establishment of the Nigerian Data Protection Commission.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, Jibrin Ndace, said emerging technologies should reinforce crisis communication rather than inflame tensions or destabilise the country.
“It is not only the insecurity that we battle, but also the narrative that frames the insecurity,” the minister said, stressing that information dissemination now plays a decisive role in shaping public perception and national stability.
The Chairman of the Centre for Crisis Communication, Maj Gen Chris Olukolade (retd.), described crisis communication as a strategic national security asset, revealing that emergencies unfold at the speed of social media and require rapid, verified responses from institutions.
Olukolade said survival during crises increasingly depends on access to credible information, coordinated institutional action and swift public response.
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