In April 2025, over a hundred people died in the Borno region, where the insurgence movement in Nigeria is based, representing the worst spike in terrorist activities and an equally alarming shift in strategy adopted by the groups. Terrorist groups operating in Nigeria have been increasingly relying on social media platform TikTok to disseminate terrorist ideologies, recruit members, and mobilize resources by livestreaming and digital gifts. The change is indicative not just of a shift in technology but rather of a paradigm shift in the practice of insurgency in the digital age.
The reason why this trend poses such a serious threat lies in its complementariness with other failures at the systemic level. The design of the platform, together with deficiencies in moderation of content published in African languages, has led to what security experts define as the perfect storm for extremist recruitment. Gone are the days when terrorists could hide behind closed-door encrypted messengers such as Telegram that have already been defeated by the security apparatus of the country. Today, the focus of their actions is TikTok.
The following investigation breaks down how this digital insurgency functions, examining the motivation and implications behind their tactics by using sources such as investigative reports and opinions from experts and defectors, shedding light on the methods used by the Nigerian terrorists to employ TikTok in this conflict-ridden country.
The Tactical Shift: From Telegram to TikTok
Why Terrorists Abandoned Encrypted Channels
Years have passed in which terrorists operating in northeastern Nigeria have used Telegram as the preferred method for their communications, recruitment, and distribution of propaganda material. Telegram has provided them with a safe means of communicating and coordinating attacks, as well as sharing ideological information with followers. However, when security services intensified efforts to shut down these encrypted platforms, terrorists had no choice but to look elsewhere.
Saddiku Muhammad, a former jihadist who defected from the movement, revealed the strategic calculus behind this shift.
“…Armed groups turned to TikTok because security forces cracked down on Telegram,”
he stated. This forced migration to TikTok represents more than a tactical adjustment; it signals a broader adaptation to the evolving security landscape. By moving to a platform that is both publicly accessible and heavily used by young Nigerians, terrorists have expanded their operational reach while reducing their vulnerability to interception.
TikTok’s Appeal to Extremist Networks
There are various benefits associated with the use of TikTok which could help terrorist groups in taking advantage of them. To begin with, the site has an algorithm which focuses more on the engagement levels rather than censorship. This implies that videos which contain weapons, cash, and terror threats will have more viewership within just a matter of hours. Moreover, the ability to stream live will enable the terrorist group to showcase its strength and power through real-time videos. Additionally, there is the capability of gifting money, hence making it easier to get money for the organization without using any banks.
Videos analyzed by the AFP analysts revealed individuals claiming to be part of the Boko Haram group conducting themselves in a manner that involved live broadcast, showing off their weapons and money, while spouting the same anti-Western messages. They have a number of intentions in doing so, including creating terror in local communities, attracting members into joining them, and demonstrating their strength to their ideological supporters. By switching to TikTok, the groups appear to be focusing on reaching out to young people, especially because the use of Telegram has been curtailed.
The Digital Governance Gap: Nigeria’s Systemic Vulnerability
Understanding Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)
At the center of Nigeria’s vulnerability is the absence of robust Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). DPI refers to the foundational systems that enable governments and citizens to interact securely and efficiently through digital identity, payments, data exchange, and trusted communications. Without a strong DPI framework, Nigeria lacks the mechanisms to monitor, regulate, and respond to digital threats posed by extremist groups operating on social media platforms.
The core of the problem lies in the absence of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), which refers to the basic infrastructure through which governments and their citizens can communicate safely and efficiently through means like digital identity, payment systems, data transfer, and secure communication services. This gap helps terrorist organizations use the digital space for communicating, recruiting, and projecting their influence outside the ambit of existing security frameworks. It is also due to the absence of DPI that Nigeria is unable to collaborate with global technology corporations regarding content regulation.
Global Context: A Growing Challenge for Democracies
This problem is not only specific to Nigeria but is also becoming an emerging trend globally for all democracies. Extremist organizations have become adept at using social media for communicating their message, recruiting followers, and spreading their influence through online space. The advantage of using these platforms lies in their immense reach, and traditional security mechanisms may not be sufficient in curbing them.
The lack of adequate digital governance in Nigeria fits into a more extensive pattern witnessed in many developing nations due to the absence of appropriate regulation and inadequate international collaboration. In response to the increasing pressures on encrypted messaging systems used by terrorists, these organizations have now shifted to other social media outlets with greater accessibility.
TikTok’s Role in Amplifying Extremist Content
Algorithmic Architecture and Content Moderation Gaps
A significant factor that facilitates the spread of extremist content is the algorithmic framework on the platform. The algorithm used by TikTok favors engagement over truthfulness, and thus videos which are shocking and include anything from guns to cash and even violent threats tend to be widely viewed by millions of people.
Silas Jonathan, a researcher at the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, highlighted the dual nature of this problem.
“The platform’s algorithmic architecture, combined with significant content moderation gaps in African languages, has created a perfect storm for extremist exploitation,”
he explained. This statement underscores the intersection of technological design and linguistic neglect that enables terrorist groups to thrive on TikTok.
The Language Barrier: Monitoring Only 8 African Languages
The most prominent loophole in TikTok’s content-moderation policy relates to the coverage of African languages. The big tech companies are actively monitoring only eight African languages out of around 2,000 languages used by 1.5 billion people in Africa. These eight languages include Arabic, Amharic, Swahili, Hausa, Somali, isiZulu, Yoruba, and Afrikaans. Many terrorist organizations use other languages in which no content moderation is conducted, enabling them to share their videos.
This linguistic blind spot is particularly dangerous in northwestern Nigeria, where armed groups communicate in local dialects that TikTok does not monitor. A man in military fatigues counting stacks of naira notes on camera during a TikTok Live session attracted thousands of viewers, yet the content remained undetected due to language gaps. This incident illustrates how terrorists exploit the platform’s limitations to broadcast their activities openly.
Recruitment and Fundraising: The Economic Engine of Digital Insurgency
Engaging Youth Through Familiar Platforms
Terrorist organizations are smartly recruiting young people by engaging them in the social networks where they hang out. There are a large number of youths under the age of 25 among the TikTok users in Nigeria. These terrorist organizations normalize violence through their propaganda and entice youths with promises of weapons, money, and a strong anti-Western sentiment.
Using the platform that the young population frequents is a strategic decision made by these terrorist organizations to broaden their reach in terms of recruitment. The youths of Nigeria face difficult socio-economic circumstances and therefore can be easily swayed with visual propaganda on the social network platform TikTok.
Fundraising Through Livestreams and Digital Gifts
Besides acting as a recruiting tool, TikTok is also an avenue from which terrorists raise funds. The platform has a digital gift scheme where users transfer money to content makers while watching their videos. Terrorist outfits have taken advantage of the system by streaming live videos of themselves brandishing weapons and showing off money in an effort to prompt viewers to make gifts of money.
Through this form of financial aid, extremists gain access to resources with which they can conduct activities in war-torn territories without having to use conventional banking channels. In essence, the economic aspect of digital terrorism involves terrorists making use of technological means to fund their endeavors.
Bloomberg’s Assessment: A Direct Challenge to Government Authority
As explained by AFP analysts, the employment of TikTok by insurgent groups in Nigeria represents a direct challenge to the government. The ability to communicate to a broad audience about one’s activities and demonstrate strengths goes against the government’s message and undermines its authority. This assertion of strength works to both intimidate locals and signal resilience to ideological allies.
In other words, armed groups directly challenge the authority of governments when they employ social media platforms like TikTok for communicating their activities to others. This is because they use the app to post content featuring things like weaponry, money, and anti-West rhetoric.
TikTok’s Stance: Zero-Tolerance Policy vs Operational Reality
TikTok has publicly stated that it maintains a zero-tolerance policy for extremist content on its platform. The company claims to remove accounts that violate its policies and to work with governments and security organizations to combat terrorism. However, the reality on the ground contradicts this stance, as many accounts remain active despite the platform’s stated policies.
Despite TikTok’s claims of a zero-tolerance policy, many accounts remain active, raising alarm over the platform’s vulnerability to extremist misuse. This discrepancy between policy and execution highlights the challenges tech companies face in enforcing content moderation across diverse linguistic and cultural contexts. The inability to detect and remove extremist content in African languages undermines TikTok’s credibility and enables terrorist groups to continue their operations.
