Surveillance Capitalism and the Nigerian Digital Consumer: A Critical Political Economy Analysis

This study applies surveillance capitalism theory to analyse the extraction, commodification, and manipulation of Nigerian digital consumer data by global technology platforms, making an original contribution to the political economy of digital media in African contexts. Zuboff's surveillance capitalism framework, developed primarily from analysis of Silicon Valley companies' practices in Western markets, requires empirical testing and theoretical extension to adequately account for the distinct regulatory environment, data protection landscape, socioeconomic conditions, and digital literacy levels of Nigerian consumers. This study employs a critical political economy methodology combining analysis of platform data practices (terms of service, privacy policies, advertising API documentation) for the five most widely used platforms in Nigeria (WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram), a survey of 600 Nigerian digital users measuring awareness, consent understanding, and attitudes toward data practices, digital ethnographic research in data broker and digital marketing communities operating in the Nigerian market (18 months), and interviews with 30 digital rights lawyers, advertising technologists, data protection regulators, and academic researchers. The Nigerian Data Protection Act 2023 and NDPC regulatory capacity are assessed. Findings reveal that Nigerian consumers exercise near-zero meaningful consent over data practices due to inadequate disclosure, low digital literacy, and the absence of viable platform alternatives. Data extracted from Nigerian users generates advertising revenue that flows predominantly outside Nigeria with minimal reinvestment in Nigerian data infrastructure. The study contributes an original Nigerian surveillance capitalism critique and recommendations for NDPC regulatory capacity development and mandatory data practice disclosure standards.

Keywords: surveillance capitalism, digital consumer data, Nigeria, political economy, data protection.