Nigeria’s battle with terrorism is colliding with a rapidly expanding digital ecosystem, and video-sharing platform TikTok is emerging as terror groups’ app of choice.
The Islamic State group and al-Qaida have long maintained robust media networks, using newsletters, photos and videos on numerous digital platforms to radicalize, recruit, coordinate, fundraise, and spread religious and propaganda messages and misinformation. With its rapid adoption in recent years, TikTok has given terrorists new opportunities to extend their reach.
“Armed groups now operate simultaneously as offline combatants and online influencers,” Nigerian researcher Mustapha Alhassan wrote in a February commentary for independent think tank ODI Global. “Their power lies not only in coercion but in their ability to manipulate attention, accelerate panic and shape narratives.”
In Nigeria, terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) previously depended upon intermediaries, shadowy secret websites and tightly controlled networks to share their messages.
But researchers and security agencies have documented how extremist groups are exploiting TikTok’s recommendation-driven algorithm to amplify propaganda and misinformation and communicate directly with followers, potential recruits, local communities, victims and even the state itself.
On February 3, a Boko Haram faction called Sadiku attacked the villages of Woro and Nuku in northwest Nigeria, killing at least 162 villagers and abducting more than 163 residents. It was the deadliest attack in the history of Kwara State. One week later, the terror group released a video on TikTok taunting the government and accusing it of “deceit and infidelity” for downplaying the number of kidnapped victims while recording some of them.
“The message was not merely propaganda,” investigative journalist Yakubu Mohammed wrote for Nigerian newspaper Premium Times in a June 11 article. “It reflected a growing global challenge in which extremist groups exploit digital platforms and weaknesses in digital governance systems to communicate, spread propaganda, recruit followers and project power far beyond the physical battlefield.”
The 90-second video was shared by a user listed as Abu Muhammad Abba, a common pseudonym in terrorist circles. Even today, the account disseminates propaganda and sermons by extremists such as the late Boko Haram founder Muhammad Yusuf.
“A single video, even if removed within hours, can be downloaded, reshared and repackaged across multiple accounts, creating a ripple effect that is difficult to contain,” Mohammed wrote. “The video of the abducted Woro victims offers an example. While the clip disappeared from the main suspected insurgent account, copies remain accessible on several associated handles.”
Boko Haram-linked accounts often recycle old footage, such as speeches by Yusuf, to legitimize their ideology. The group also capitalizes on TikTok’s monetization tools, converting viewer “gifts” into funding. One former militant revealed that the group shifted to TikTok after crackdowns on platforms such as Telegram.
In a December 2025 media briefing at the National Counter Terrorism Centre in Abuja, Maj. Gen. Adamu Laka said TikTok was among the platforms that his agency has worked with to remove content and accounts that threaten national security.
“The issue of social media platforms used by terrorist groups — if you knew how many accounts we took down,” he said. “We have had several meetings with these social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and X.”
Malik Samuel, an Abuja-based security analyst at the Good Governance Africa research organization, warned that shutting down terrorist accounts alone will not solve the problem, as groups can easily create replacement accounts or migrate to alternative platforms.
Mohammed agreed, noting that intelligence is often siloed within Nigeria’s security architecture, and institutional coordination can be slow.
“While several agencies monitor aspects of cybercrime, terrorism and online activity, there is no public information about a dedicated, integrated framework for tracking extremist content across platforms in real time or for systematically analysing digital threat patterns across institutions,” he wrote.
In June 2026, Mohammed obtained data from TikTok’s transparency portal that showed the platform received 33 takedown requests from the Nigerian government between January 2023 and the first two quarters of 2025. That included 24 pieces of content posted by 55 accounts, of which 30 were “actioned” upon for violating local laws and community guidelines.
Speaking to Mohammed, Samuel lamented the deadly game of cat and mouse that he has witnessed and documented on TikTok: “The war is not [only] about guns and bullets again. It is now more of an information warfare.”