INTERMEDIARY LIABILITY AND CYBERCRIME ENFORCEMENT IN NIGERIA: DEVELOPING A HYBRID PLATFORM ACCOUNTABILITY FRAMEWORK

Abstract

The rapid expansion of digital platforms has transformed social media intermediaries into central actors within modern communication and cyber governance systems. In Nigeria, violent crimes, kidnappings, cyber-enabled offences, and public acts of brutality are increasingly recorded, livestreamed, coordinated, and disseminated through Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram, and related platforms. Despite the visibility of such crimes online, perpetrators frequently evade identification and prosecution, raising important legal questions regarding intermediary liability and platform accountability. This article examines whether Nigeria's existing cybercrime framework adequately regulates intermediary responsibility within contemporary enforcement systems. Through doctrinal, comparative, and normative legal analysis, the article evaluates Nigeria's Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015 alongside intermediary governance regimes within the European Union and the United States. The article argues that Nigeria's enforcement deficiencies stem from attributional limitations, jurisdictional fragmentation, weak evidence preservation systems, institutional limitations, and the absence of a coherent intermediary accountability framework. The article proposes a Hybrid Platform Accountability Framework combining conditional safe harbour protections with enforceable obligations relating to notice-and-action procedures, digital evidence preservation, transparency reporting, and platform cooperation. The study contributes to emerging scholarship by reframing intermediary liability not merely as a free speech debate, but as a central component of cybercrime enforcement architecture within developing digital jurisdictions.