A group of civil society organisations (CSOs) has urged the Senate to urgently pass the Child Online Access Protection Bill currently before it for concurrence.
The CSOs said the proposed law is meant to protect Nigerian children from harmful online content.
The civil society stakeholders noted that with millions of Nigerian children having access to online content daily, the price of inaction would be too high for the country.
The CSOs spoke at a policy dialogue and film screening at the National Assembly Library in Abuja. The event was organised by Gatefield, and it featured the screening of Click, Bait, Repeat, a short documentary that highlights the realities of cyberbullying, online grooming, sexual exploitation, and other digital harms that affect children across Nigeria.
They said the Child Online Access Protection Bill, which has been passed by the House of Representatives, is currently before the Senate for its concurrence.
The CSOs described the proposed law as a critical opportunity to strengthen protections for children online.
According to them, the Bill could help establish clearer responsibilities for digital platforms, improve accountability measures, and create a more comprehensive framework for preventing and responding to online harms affecting children.
The CSOs said stronger legal protections, platform accountability, and coordinated action are essential to safeguarding children online.
The dialogue comes amid growing concern over the scale of online risks facing Nigerian children, with recent findings showing that nearly nine in 10 Nigerian children have experienced at least one form of online harm, while 89 per cent report exposure to unsolicited sexual content online.
They argued that while children are often expected to navigate digital risks on their own, platforms currently face limited obligations to proactively safeguard young users, adding that meaningful progress would require enforceable standards for age-appropriate design, stronger content moderation systems, accessible reporting mechanisms, and greater accountability for platforms that fail to address harmful content.
They stated that Nigeria’s current legal and regulatory framework has not kept pace with the realities of children’s digital lives, leaving significant gaps in prevention, reporting, accountability, and redress.
Gatefield’s Growth Lead, Abdulrahman Adebayo, said the documentary was intended to move the conversation beyond statistics and centre the experiences of children directly affected by online harms.
“Click, Bait, Repeat takes us beyond the data and into the lived experiences behind it. It reminds us that behind every percentage is a child, a family, and a story,” he said.
Jemimah Inyangudo of TechHer stressed that children represent one of the largest groups of internet users in Nigeria, yet remain among the least protected.
“The scale of child online harm in Nigeria demands more than awareness; it requires a coordinated policy response. Children are navigating digital spaces every day, but our current systems and safeguards have not kept pace with the risks they face. We need stronger protections, clearer accountability, and mechanisms that put children’s safety at the centre of digital governance,” she said.
Angela Uzoma of Avocats Sans Frontières France highlighted the systemic barriers that prevent many cases of online abuse from being reported or acted upon.
“Many cases of online abuse never reach the appropriate authorities because children and families are unsure where to report, fear stigma, or lack confidence that action would be taken. Strengthening child online safety requires trusted reporting systems and effective pathways for accountability and redress,” she said.
To address these gaps, the dialogue highlighted the need for mandatory platform protections, faster content removal, and stricter limits on unmonitored early access to digital spaces.
Christina Eguma of the National Assembly’s Gender Technical Unit stressed that unrestricted early access to digital platforms presents significant risks for children and underscored the need for stronger safeguards across the digital ecosystem.