A COALITION of civil society organisations working on digital rights, freedom of expression and access to information has called for an urgent investigation into reported disruptions to TikTok access in parts of northern Nigeria.
The coalition, in a statement on Friday, October 2, 2026, said users in Kaduna, Kebbi, Kano and Sokoto had experienced difficulties accessing the platform for more than two weeks.
The statement was jointly issued by Accountability Lab Nigeria, Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, Digital Africa Research and Safety Lab, DigiCivic Initiative, Gatefield, Hope Behind Bars Africa, Media Rights Agenda, Paradigm Initiative, RACE Africa, Spaces for Change, TechHerNG and TechSocietal.
According to the organisations, the disruption was first reported around September 14 and has affected users attempting to load videos, refresh their feeds and upload content through ordinary mobile-data connections.
The coalition, however, said it had not established whether the problem was caused by a technical failure, network-routing problem, malfunction on TikTok’s side, traffic-management measure, or an intentional restriction.
The groups said preliminary investigations showed that some affected users had been able to regain access to TikTok through virtual private networks (VPNs).
They said the fact that access could be restored for some users through VPNs raised questions about whether the problem was occurring at the network level.
However, the coalition cautioned that VPN access alone does not establish that TikTok had been deliberately blocked.
The call came on the heels of a report by Zikoko, which said TikTok users in Kaduna, Kano and Sokoto had struggled to access the platform, with some resorting to VPNs. Users reportedly complained that videos took too long to load, feeds became unresponsive and uploads stalled.
Another report also confirmed that users in Kano, Kaduna and Sokoto had reported difficulties loading videos, refreshing feeds and uploading content, with some saying other applications on the same devices continued to work normally.
The coalition said the reports were significant because the disruption had continued without a public explanation from relevant authorities or TikTok.
No evidence yet of deliberate blocking
The organisations stressed that their preliminary findings did not establish that the government had ordered a restriction on TikTok.
“The NCC should facilitate independent network testing in the affected locations, including through qualified researchers and civil society organisations with relevant technical expertise, which should help to distinguish an ordinary technical outage from deliberate or inadvertent network-level interference.
“Testing should examine whether there is evidence of Domain Name System (DNS) interference, IP or domain blocking, Server Name Indication (SNI) or protocol interference, throttling, routing anomalies, application-specific filtering, differences between mobile networks, differences between mobile and fixed-line connections, and differences between affected and unaffected geographical areas,” the statement read.
The coalition urged the NCC to work with telecommunications operators, TikTok and independent technical researchers to determine what is happening.
It also called on TikTok to state whether it had identified any technical problem affecting users in northern Nigeria or whether there had been changes to its infrastructure, routing or content-delivery systems.
CSOs demand government disclosure
The groups further asked the Federal Government to publicly disclose any directive, request or order issued by a government agency that affects access to TikTok.
They said such a directive should be accompanied by information on its legal basis, scope, duration and purpose.
The organisations specifically named the NCC, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and relevant state government agencies as bodies that should participate in the investigation.
They also called on telecommunications operators to provide timely information to consumers whenever significant network disruptions occur.
According to the coalition, the NCC should clarify whether the reported TikTok problems have been logged as network incidents and, where appropriate, require operators to provide information on the cause and expected restoration time.
The groups said social media platforms had become important channels for communication, journalism, business, civic participation and public discourse.
They argued that prolonged and unexplained disruptions could therefore affect more than entertainment, particularly for people and businesses that depend on digital platforms to reach customers and audiences.
The coalition said the government should avoid imposing broad restrictions on an entire platform where concerns relate to specific unlawful content or activity.
The groups also warned against treating the use of VPNs as evidence of unlawful conduct merely because some users had relied on them to regain access.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M