TikTok Suspends Late-Night Live Streaming in Nigeria Over sexual exploitation concerns

TikTok has suspended access to its late-night LIVE streaming feature in Nigeria following a surge in broadcasts flagged for inappropriate and adult-themed content, triggering a platform-wide safety review.

The restriction took effect at midnight on Sunday, when Nigerian users received an in-app notification announcing the temporary measure. The alert read:
“TikTok LIVE Update in Nigeria: We’re temporarily limiting LIVE late at night in Nigeria as part of our investigation to ensure our platform remains safe and our community stays protected.”

Shortly after, users noticed that LIVE sessions — which had been active earlier in the evening — became inaccessible between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. During the suspension window, creators attempting to go LIVE were met with a “No Access” notice. The limitation also blocked Nigerian users from viewing LIVE streams hosted from other countries.

Only creators with at least 1,000 followers, the minimum threshold to host a LIVE on the platform, received the initial system update. Several affected creators confirmed that all LIVE activities were disabled throughout the night.

Despite the disruption, TikTok assured monetised creators that their earnings and existing balances remained intact, helping to quell fears about potential financial losses.

LIVE access was restored on Monday morning, sparking widespread discussion on X (Twitter), TikTok, and other social platforms as users debated the reason behind the abrupt nationwide freeze. Night-time hours are especially popular for Nigerian streamers, who use the peak traffic period to host matches, talk shows, entertainment content, and interactive sessions that attract virtual gifts.

The development comes just weeks after TikTok released new safety statistics for West Africa.
At its West Africa Safety Summit in Dakar, Senegal, the company revealed that between April and June 2025:

• TikTok took action against 2,321,813 LIVE sessions and 1,040,356 LIVE creators globally for violating LIVE monetisation rules.

  

• In Nigeria alone, 49,512 LIVE sessions were sanctioned within the same period.

• The platform removed 3,780,426 Nigerian videos for violating its Community Guidelines — with 98.7% taken down before they were viewed and 91.9% removed within 24 hours.

TikTok LIVE remains one of the app’s most interactive features, allowing real-time engagement through comments and virtual gifts. To access the feature, users must typically have at least 1,000 followers and be 16 or older, with 18+ required for earning money through gifts.