Civil Society Organisations, child rights advocates, and policy stakeholders have called for the swift passage of the Child Online Access Protection Bill.
They described the bill as a critical step toward addressing the growing scale of online harms affecting Nigerian children.
The concerned stakeholders spoke over the weekend during a high-level film screening and policy dialogue held at the National Assembly Library in Abuja.
The event, which was organised by Gatefield, featured a private screening of Click, Bait, Repeat, a short documentary that highlights the realities of cyberbullying, online grooming, sexual exploitation, and other digital harms affecting children across Nigeria.
The dialogue came amid growing concern over the scale of online risks facing Nigerian children.
According to the stakeholders, recent findings show that nearly 9 in 10 Nigerian children have experienced at least one form of online harm, while 89 per cent report exposure to unsolicited sexual content online.
Despite these alarming trends, stakeholders noted that legal and institutional safeguards have struggled to keep pace with Nigeria’s rapidly expanding digital population.
According to Gatefield’s State of Online Harms research, 31% of harmful content reported by Nigerian users was never removed by digital platforms.
Stakeholders argued 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.
Speaking at the event, 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.
Also, Mr Jemimah Inyangudo of TechHer, emphasised that children represent one of the largest groups of internet users in Nigeria, yet remain among the least protected.
Another speaker, Miss Angela Uzoma of Avocats Sans Frontières France, highlighted the systemic barriers that prevent many cases of online abuse from being reported or acted upon.
On her part, Miss Christina Eguma, emphasised that unrestricted early access to digital platforms presents significant risks for children and underscored the need for stronger safeguards across the digital ecosystem.
Stakeholders pointed to the Child Online Access Protection Bill, which has passed the House of Representatives and is currently before the Senate, as a critical opportunity to strengthen protections for children online.
They noted that the bill could establish clearer responsibilities for digital platforms, improve accountability measures, and create a more comprehensive framework for preventing and responding to online harms.
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