Coalition says users in Kaduna, Kebbi, Kano and Sokoto have faced difficulties accessing the platform for more than two weeks, urges authorities to establish whether the cause is technical or deliberate.
By Bunmi Yekini
A coalition of civil society organisations has called for an urgent investigation into a reported disruption of access to TikTok in parts of northern Nigeria, saying users in Kaduna, Kebbi, Kano and Sokoto had faced difficulties accessing the platform for more than two weeks.
The groups said in a preliminary statement that reports of intermittent access problems began around Sept. 14 and had developed into what they described as a multi-week disruption.
The coalition said its preliminary investigations found that millions of people who rely on social media platforms for communication and livelihoods had experienced difficulties loading TikTok, watching videos and uploading content through ordinary mobile-data connections.
It said the problem did not appear to be limited to a single internet service provider, adding that some users had been able to access the platform through virtual private networks (VPNs).
The groups stressed, however, that they had not established the cause of the disruption.
“It is not yet clear whether the disruption results from a technical failure, a network routing problem, a platform-side malfunction, a traffic management measure, or an intentional restriction,” the coalition said.
It said no public explanation had established the cause of the reported disruption, and adopted the neutral term “TikTok Disruption” pending further technical evidence.
The coalition, which includes civil society groups working on digital rights, freedom of expression, access to information and civic space, urged the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and affected state authorities to investigate the matter with telecommunications operators and TikTok.
It called for the findings to be made public.
The groups also said that if an intentional restriction was found to be responsible, any blocking, throttling or other disruption of access should have a clear legal basis and comply with applicable human-rights standards.
They cited Section 39 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, which protects freedom of expression and the right to receive and impart ideas and information, subject to constitutionally permitted limitations.
The coalition urged telecommunications operators to provide consumers with information about major network disruptions, including their nature, extent and expected restoration time.
It also called for independent technical testing to determine whether the reported problems involved DNS interference, IP or domain blocking, protocol interference, throttling, routing anomalies or application-specific filtering.
The testing, it said, should also examine differences between mobile networks, fixed-line connections and affected and unaffected geographical areas.
The groups further called on TikTok to clarify whether it had identified technical problems affecting users in northern Nigeria or changes to its infrastructure, routing or content-delivery systems.
The coalition said access to digital platforms had become important to communication, journalism, business, civic participation and public discourse, and urged authorities to ensure that national-security concerns did not become a blanket justification for restricting access to an entire platform.
Where authorities identify unlawful activity online, the groups said responses should be directed at specific conduct or content rather than broad restrictions on an entire service.
They also urged authorities not to penalise users, journalists, researchers or civil society groups for lawfully documenting network disruptions or conducting legitimate technical measurements.
The coalition said the reported use of VPNs by some users to regain access to TikTok should not, by itself, be treated as evidence of unlawful activity.
It also called for a national protocol requiring prompt notification of significant internet disruptions, disclosure of their causes where technically established, identification of any government directive or legal order involved, and publication of restoration timelines and post-incident reports.
The groups urged the NCC and other relevant authorities to publish a final investigation report setting out which networks and locations were affected, the technical cause, whether any government agency was involved and what measures would be taken to prevent a recurrence.
The coalition said it would continue monitoring reports from affected users and engaging relevant stakeholders as it sought more information about the nature and source of the disruption.