Code of Practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms/Internet Intermediaries, child-content control duty

The Code of Practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms/Internet Intermediaries, issued by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) under section 6 of the NITDA Act, 2007 in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission and the National Broadcasting Commission, applies to all Interactive Computer Service Platforms and Internet Intermediaries operating in Nigeria, a term the Code defines broadly to include social media operators, websites, blogs, media-sharing sites, discussion forums, streaming platforms, and gaming platforms.

Part II requires a Platform to label, censor, redact, or otherwise apply access control so that content inappropriate for a child, such as sexually explicit content or images of violence, is not viewable to a child. Part II also requires a Platform to inform users through its terms of service not to create, publish, modify, transmit, store, or share content harmful to a child.

A Platform must also give consideration, in assessing whether content is harmful, to the risk that its dissemination could have a physical or psychological impact on a child or an adult, and must ensure its community rules specify how children will be protected from harmful content they may encounter.

The Code does not itself prescribe an age-verification mechanism, and non-compliance is stated to be a breach of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, the National Broadcasting Commission Act, 2004, and the NITDA Act, 2007, rather than a penalty set out in the Code itself.