Nigeria, April 26 -- In February 2025, Nigeria announced a $32.8 million fine for data privacy violations against Meta Platform Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. But the government went quiet when it reversed course by writing off the fine after striking a deal with the tech giant in October last year.

Under the settlement agreement, Nigeria consented to freeing Meta of all liabilities regarding the alleged violations, letting the company get away without any fine.

In return for Nigeria writing off the fine, which resulted from about 17 months of investigation by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Meta pledged to be ethical in the handling of Nigerians data in the future.

The tech company bore no financial...