The Nigerian Press Organization has issued a warning that unregulated international digital gatekeepers are endangering the country’s social cohesion, security, and democratic governance.
The NPO said in a statement on Tuesday that the warning had become expedient as algorithms controlled from outside Nigeria continued to dominate public discourse, manipulate narratives and relegate professional journalism.
The NPO is the umbrella body of media organisations, including the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria, the Nigeria Union of Journalists and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers.
The statement was signed by the presidents of the bodies: Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru (NPAN), Mr Eze Anaba (NGE), Salihu Dembos (BON), Mr Danlami Nmodu (GCOP) and Mr Alhassan Yahaya (NUJ).
The organization warned that allowing digitally manipulated narratives to continue unchecked would worsen misinformation and disinformation, fueling polarization, grievance mobilization, and insecurity across the country.
The statement read, “The rapid rise of global digital platforms has fundamentally altered Nigeria’s information environment. While these platforms have expanded access and innovation, they have also created a structural imbalance of power that now threaten the sustainability of professional journalism – the backbone of informed citizenship and accountable governance.
“Today, global platforms dominate digital advertising markets. Algorithms controlled outside Nigeria determine what Nigerians see, amplify or ignore. Nigerian news content is monetised at scale without proportionate reinvestment in local journalism.
“Revenue that once sustained domestic newsrooms is increasingly extracted offshore. This is not a conventional market disruption. It is the emergence of private, transnational gatekeepers over public discourse, operating beyond the effective reach of national democratic accountability.”
The NPO called on the Federal Government to protect professional journalism in the interest of national stability, democratic durability and Nigeria’s standing as a serious constitutional democracy.
It further cautioned that allowing “opaque commercial algorithms” to control Nigeria’s democratic conversation would result in weakened institutions, diminished public trust, rising misinformation and fragile national cohesion.
“In a multi-ethnic, multi-religious federation, credible journalism plays a stabilising role. When trusted news institutions weaken, misinformation, disinformation and digitally manipulated narratives expand unchecked, fuelling polarisation, grievance mobilisation and insecurity.
“No counterterrorism, policing or intelligence framework can fully compensate for a collapsed information order.
“Elections, public accountability, and citizen participation depend on reliable information. When professional journalism is displaced by algorithmic virality, democratic processes become vulnerable to distortion, foreign influence, and coordinated falsehoods,” the statement added.
The NPO stressed that professional journalism should be recognised not merely as a commercial activity but as strategic civic infrastructure, comparable in importance to education, public health and the judiciary.
