Lagos court orders social media platform to reveal user, fines N70m for defamation

The Lagos High Court in Ikorodu has ordered X, the social media app once known as Twitter, to reveal the identity of a user, @_AbiolaPharays. This user is accused of tampering with a birthday post from a Nigerian law graduate, Esther Agboola.

In a judgment delivered on June 5, 2026, and obtained by PUNCH Metro on Wednesday, Justice Adeniyi Pokanu stated that changing and reposting Agboola’s content violated her right to privacy as stated in Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution.

Agboola shared pictures on January 9, 2026, with the caption, “Chapter 25. Happy Birthday to me!” to mark her 25th birthday. She told the court that the anonymous user took her January 2025 birthday post, which was meant to celebrate her 24th birthday, and changed its timestamp. This created the false impression that it was posted at a different time, misleading the public.

Justice Pokanu said that X Corp, which owns and runs the platform, has records that can reveal the anonymous account. He ordered the company to submit an affidavit that discloses the user's identity.

The court awarded Agboola N20m in general damages against the unidentified X user for the mental pain, emotional stress, harassment, damage to her reputation, and humiliation she experienced.

Additionally, the court ordered N50m in conditional damages against X Corp if the company does not comply with the order to reveal the account holder's identity.

“General damages in the sum of N20,000,000.00 against the first respondent for the mental anguish, emotional distress, harassment, reputational injury, and humiliation suffered by the applicant as a direct result of the unlawful acts of the 1st Respondent.

“General damages in the sum of N50,000,000.00 against the second respondent, payable conditionally where the second respondent fails, omits, or refuses to file the affidavit of disclosure as mandated by this judgment,” the court ruled.