Nigeria - April 2026

On 22 April, the House of Representatives gave a first reading to a bill amending the Cybercrime Act, intended to curb provisions long used to harass and detain journalists and whistleblowers. The bill would narrow Section 24, whose broad wording on online messages that cause ‘annoyance’ or ‘anxiety’ had been used to arrest reporters, and would require disputes over reputation, defamation or alleged falsehood to be pursued through civil rather than criminal proceedings. Other clauses would shield journalists and whistleblowers handling confidential information in the public interest and require judicial authorization before agencies access their data. The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development welcomed the bill as the first substantial attempt to address the law’s misuse, noting it had recorded at least 18 journalists targeted under cybercrime charges since a 2024 amendment. To become law, the bill must still pass a second reading and committee scrutiny, win National Assembly approval and presidential assent; no timeline for these steps was given.

Sources: National Assembly Library Trust Fund, Development News Network, Premium Times