The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) says Google, LinkedIn and TikTok deactivated more than 28 million accounts in the last one year over fraud, impersonation and harmful content linked largely to Nigerian online actors.
The Director-General of NITDA, Mr Kashifu Abdullahi, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a symposium on digital innovations in crisis communication organised by the Centre for Crisis Communication.
Abdullahi said the scale of account removals reflected the growing misuse of social media platforms in the country.
“Just three platforms — Google, LinkedIn and TikTok — deactivated over 28 million accounts last year,” he said.
He said Google alone shut down 9,680,141 accounts, while LinkedIn removed nearly 16 million accounts, a figure he described as “outrageous for a professional platform.” TikTok also carried out large-volume suspensions, he added.
According to him, many of the accounts were linked to impersonation, social engineering scams and coordinated harmful activities.
Abdullahi said the platforms also removed more than 58.9 million pieces of harmful content connected to Nigeria, adding that about 420,000 posts were later restored after appeals and internal reviews.
He said the actions stemmed from improved collaboration between the Nigerian government and global technology companies to curb disinformation, online scams, extremist content and digital abuse.
The DG, however, cautioned against the misuse of content takedown systems.
“If content is not violating any laws in Nigeria, there is no way we can just say take it down,” he said, stressing the need for transparent and rights-based reinstatement processes.
He said the cooperation with tech companies had strengthened regulatory reforms, including those that led to the establishment of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission.
Representing the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, Mr Jibrin Ndace, said emerging technologies should support crisis communication rather than escalate tensions.
“It is not only the insecurity that we battle, but also the narrative that frames the insecurity,” he said.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Centre for Crisis Communication, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade (rtd.), said crisis communication had become a strategic national security tool, as emergencies now unfold at the speed of social media.
He said public safety increasingly depended on access to credible information and timely institutional responses.
The disclosures come amid concerns over rising cybercrime, impersonation networks and the growing use of social media for propaganda, scams and coordinated misinformation in the country.