Court dismisses ARCON’s ₦30 billion lawsuit against Meta after regulator’s discontinuance and its agent AT3 Resources Limited, for breaking its advertising laws.
In May 2023, ARCON was granted permission to serve a writ of summons — a document that informs the defendant they have been sued — on Meta, despite the news of its suit going public in October 2022.
ARCON alleged that Meta published advertisements on social media platforms without prior approval and failed to pay statutory vetting fees to the Nigerian government. It mentioned that the tech giant generated approximately 97.5% of its revenue from ad sales globally, including Nigeria, where it has around 37 million active users.
The advertising council claimed that Meta was required to obtain approval and pay fees for adverts, advertisements, and marketing communication published on its platforms in Nigeria. It argued that this development contravened extant advertising laws in Nigeria.
Reaction of Meta
Meta objected to the suit and sought to strike it out for lack of jurisdiction, saying it is a foreign entity registered in the US. The Instagram parent company said it hadn’t submitted to the Nigerian court’s jurisdiction, urging the court to dismiss the suit as an abuse of the court process.
However, if Meta had lost the suit, the weight would have fallen on Nigerian businesses, not on Meta, as advertisers would be made to pay more than they already do.
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Recall that in May 2023, ARCON released vetting rates for ads on social media, stating it would charge between ₦7,500 ($16) and ₦100,000 ($217) to vet social media ads before they go live. Before that, it had said in 2022 that advertisers would be required to obtain pre-exposure approval for all adverts.
Moreover, while ARCON has discontinued its suit, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has imposed a $220 million fine on the company for abusing Nigerian users’ data after investigating its conduct and operations. However, the tech titan has disputed the regulator’s claim and planned to appeal.
