Privacy & Data Rights
Cyberstalking and Online Harassment — Platform Refuses to Act
A platform says your harassment report doesn't violate their guidelines — but Nigerian law says otherwise
Premium
intermediate
8 minutes
The Situation
What They Said
“We've reviewed your report and found the content doesn't violate our community guidelines. The account will remain active.”
Online harassment and cyberstalking have become widespread in Nigeria, affecting professionals, activists, women in public life, and ordinary citizens alike. Victims frequently find that reporting abusive content or threatening messages to social media platforms produces a generic response citing community guidelines — with no real action taken. This can be deeply distressing because the harasser often escalates when platform reports are ignored. What many Nigerians do not know is that cyberstalking and the sending of offensive or threatening electronic messages is a criminal offence under Nigerian law, regardless of what a foreign platform's policies say. The Nigeria Police Force has a dedicated Cybercrime Unit, and the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015 gives victims legal pathways that operate independently of any platform's discretion.
The Fallacy
Platform Policy Override of Criminal Law
A social media platform's community guidelines are a private contractual document — they are not a source of Nigerian law. A platform deciding that content does not violate its guidelines does not determine whether that content constitutes a criminal offence under Nigerian statute. The Cybercrimes Act 2015 criminalises cyberstalking and offensive electronic communications independently of what any platform permits. Platforms operating in Nigeria are subject to Nigerian law, and their failure to act does not absolve a harasser of criminal liability or prevent a victim from pursuing criminal remedies. The victim's legal rights and the harasser's criminal exposure exist regardless of the platform's decision.
What the Law Says
Your Legal Foundation
Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015 (No. 18 of 2015)
Section 24 — Cyberstalking — Criminal Offence
“Any person who knowingly or intentionally sends a message or other matter by means of computer systems or network that is grossly offensive, pornographic, or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character or causes any such message or matter to be so sent; or sends a message that he knows to be false for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will or needless anxiety to another commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of not more than ₦7,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of not more than 3 years, or both.”
The platform's community guidelines decision is irrelevant to this provision. If the messages or content you have received are grossly offensive, threatening, or designed to cause you anxiety or harm, the person sending them has committed a criminal offence under Nigerian law. You can report this directly to the NPF Cybercrime Unit or any police station regardless of what the platform has decided.
Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015 (No. 18 of 2015)
Section 22 — Identity Theft and Impersonation
“Any person who fraudulently impersonates another entity or person, real or imaginary, with the intent to gain advantage for himself or another person, or with the intent to injure or defraud another person, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not more than 3 years or a fine of not more than ₦7,000,000, or both.”
If the harassment involves someone impersonating you, creating fake accounts in your name, or using your image or identity without consent, this constitutes identity theft under s.22 — an additional and separate criminal charge. Document and preserve all evidence of impersonation before reporting.
Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 (No. 14 of 2023)
Section 34 — Right to Erasure
“A data subject has the right to require a data controller to erase personal data concerning the data subject without undue delay where the personal data is being processed unlawfully or where the data subject objects to the processing and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for the processing.”
If the harassing content contains your personal data — your photograph, home address, phone number, or other identifying information — you have a right under NDPA s.34 to demand its erasure. This right can be enforced both against the platform (as a data controller) and separately against the harasser, and does not depend on whether the platform considers the content a guideline violation.
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What They'll Say Next
Common Counter-Arguments
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They might say: “We removed the specific post you reported but we cannot ban the account — they haven't done enough to justify removal.”
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