Civil society organisation, Citizens’ Gavel, has filed a fundamental rights enforcement action before the Federal High Court of Nigeria against messaging platform Telegram, accusing the company of failing to adequately regulate harmful content and protect users from online sexual exploitation and gender-based violence.
The organisation said the suit followed findings from an investigation by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, published on its fact-checking platform, DUBAWA, which identified 86 Telegram channels with more than 16,000 active users across several Nigerian states and university communities.
According to the report, the channels were allegedly used to circulate non-consensual intimate images, advertise prostitution, recruit vulnerable persons, and promote sexual exploitation and trafficking.
Citizens’ Gavel said its own casework through Gbami, its sexual and gender-based abuse response initiative, had also documented similar patterns of abuse on the platform.
The organisation said some victims were lured into online relationships under false identities, after which their intimate content was shared without their consent.
In a statement, the Lead of the Tech-Facilitated SGBV Response Unit at Citizens’ Gavel, Rita Odafe-Ofarn, said such materials were often redistributed across multiple Telegram channels and used for blackmail, extortion and coercion into prostitution.
Citizens’ Gavel alleged that Telegram’s moderation systems were insufficient to stop the repeated re-emergence of harmful groups, noting that many channels allegedly returned under new identities after being reported or removed.
The group also faulted enforcement efforts by the National Information Technology Development Agency, describing regulatory action against foreign technology companies as largely ineffective.
It urged NITDA to issue compliance directives to Telegram and compel the platform to adopt stronger safeguards against online sexual exploitation, non-consensual image sharing and gender-based violence.
The organisation also called on the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons to intensify investigations into online exploitation networks and establish specialised digital enforcement structures to track and prosecute offenders.
Citizens’ Gavel further urged the National Assembly to fast-track legislation on online harms, saying Nigeria needs a clear legal framework defining platform responsibilities, user protection obligations and accountability standards for technology companies operating in the country.
It also called on the Inspector General of Police to ensure that reports of online sexual exploitation are promptly investigated by dedicated cybercrime units.
The group said the case seeks to hold Telegram accountable for alleged regulatory failures and to strengthen protection for victims of technology-facilitated sexual and gender-based abuse in Nigeria.
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