A new federal survey has found overwhelming public backing for tighter controls on children’s use of social media in Nigeria, with more than four in five respondents supporting some form of regulation.

The poll, commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy and titled “Proposed Social Media Age Regulation in Nigeria,” sampled the views of 585 people through a nationwide public consultation.

Presenting the findings at a roundtable on the Protection of Children Online in Lagos, Senior Special Adviser to the Minister, Kasim Sodangi, said 83.4 per cent of respondents agreed that children’s access to social media should be regulated.

Of this group, 64.8 per cent backed outright regulation of children’s social media use, while 18.6 per cent supported regulation but preferred a different minimum age threshold from the one under consideration.

The survey showed that 64.5 per cent of respondents favoured setting the minimum age for social media use at 16 or 17 years, significantly higher than the widely used global benchmark of 13.

According to the ministry, 98.6 per cent of those who answered nationality questions identified as Nigerian, a level of representation officials say ensures the results reflect domestic realities and concerns.

Public anxiety about online safety was pronounced. The report found that 93.5 per cent of respondents expressed great or extreme concern about the safety of children under 18 on social media platforms. Among them, 69.2 per cent said they were “extremely” concerned, while 24.3 per cent reported being “highly” concerned.

Exposure to harmful or inappropriate content emerged as the most frequently cited risk, flagged by 90.9 per cent of respondents. This was followed by digital addiction at 83.6 per cent and online grooming at 82.4 per cent. Nearly three-quarters, 74.5 per cent, believed children and parents lacked sufficient awareness of the legal implications of cyber offences.

The survey also recorded near-unanimous support for stronger obligations on technology companies, with 97.6 per cent endorsing a duty-of-care framework that would require platforms to take proactive steps to prevent harm to minors.

Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, said the findings underscored the need to update laws and safeguards in line with a rapidly evolving digital environment. He argued that the policy debate should now focus on how best to implement age restrictions, not whether they are necessary.

Tijani suggested that Nigeria’s digital identity systems and existing verification tools on platforms could be deployed to enforce age-based rules, adding that the possibility of some users bypassing controls should not be a reason to abandon regulation.

National Commissioner of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, Vincent Olatunji, warned that children face mounting threats online, including cyberbullying, cyberstalking, harmful content and mental health challenges. He stressed that while internet access is vital for learning and development, it must be balanced with effective protections.

Officials and participants at the roundtable called for stronger digital literacy programmes, better age-verification mechanisms, enhanced parental guidance and greater accountability from social media companies. They also insisted that any changes to age-related rules should follow broad stakeholder consultations and established legislative procedures.