A coalition of 12 civil society organisations focused on digital rights, freedom of expression, and civic space has raised an alarm over an ongoing, unexplained disruption of access to TikTok across several states in Northern Nigeria.
The CSOs claimed that the widespread access difficulties began around mid-September 2026 as intermittent disruptions, but have since escalated into a multi-week digital blackout in states including Kano, Kaduna, Kebbi, and Sokoto.
Millions of citizens relying on the social media platform for their livelihoods, information dissemination, and daily communication are said to be unable to upload content, view videos, or load pages using standard mobile data connections. Service currently remains accessible only for a fraction of users through Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). 
Adopting the neutral term “TikTok Disruption” while awaiting further technical evidence, the group expressed deep concern over what it described as more than two weeks of institutional silence from regulatory bodies, telecommunications operators, and platform managers.
Addressing the possibility of state involvement, the coalition emphasized that if the outage stems from intentional directives, government agencies must immediately cease any unlawful blocking, throttling, or filtering. Any platform restrictions, the CSOs noted, must have a clear legal foundation and comply strictly with constitutional protections under Section 39 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution and international human rights frameworks guaranteeing freedom of expression and access to information.
The statement also urged regulatory authorities to ensure that citizens, media practitioners, and researchers documenting the blackout or utilizing VPNs are protected from harassment, arrest, or penalties. Similarly, the coalition called on TikTok to publicly clarify whether internal technical glitches, infrastructure routing failures, or localized delivery modifications contributed to the disruption.
To prevent future occurrences, the coalition recommended the creation of a national internet disruption transparency protocol, alongside a formal engagement mechanism bringing together civil society, technical experts, and government agencies under the leadership of the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.
