In a significant legal move, the Nigerian Federal Government, through the Department of State Services (DSS), has filed a five-count criminal charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja against activist Omoyele Sowore and the parent companies of X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, Meta Platforms, Inc. The charges stem from a series of posts published on Sowore’s social media accounts in August 2025. The core of the allegation is a tweet in which Sowore referred to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a “criminal” and accused him of lying shamelessly during a statement in Brazil that there was no more corruption under his regime in Nigeria.
The charges are a mix of allegations under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024, and the older Criminal Code Act. Count One accuses Sowore of knowingly publishing false information to cause a “breakdown of law and order.” Counts Two through Four pivot to charges of criminal defamation against the personality and reputation of the President, relating to posts on both X and Facebook. The fifth and final count charges him with publishing false information with intent to cause public fear and disturbance, punishable under the Criminal Code Act. The court documents list exhibits, witnesses, and summaries of evidence to be presented.
This case is poised to become a landmark test for freedom of speech and the application of Nigeria’s cybercrime laws in the digital age. By directly charging the social media platforms—X Corp and Meta (Facebook) Inc.—alongside the individual user, the prosecution is adopting a novel and aggressive legal strategy. This move signals a serious escalation in the government’s efforts to regulate online discourse and hold both users and platforms accountable for content deemed to be against public order or defamatory to high-ranking officials. The outcome will be closely watched by civil society, legal experts, and the international community.
The Naija Lowdown Writer 