On one the hand, Arts. 3 and 11 of the Law No. 2019-03 state that there is no general obligation to monitor content, without prejudice to any surveillance activity requested by the Nigerien judicial authorities where this is necessary to safeguard public safety, defence, security, the repression of crimes against humanity, incitement to violence and ethnic or religious hatred, as well as pornography, in particular child pornography, terrorism and money laundering and for the prevention, investigation, detection and and prosecution of criminal offences. On the other hand, Arts. 2 and 11 of the Law state that there is an exception which applies to the Law on Cybercrime. In fact, service providers must monitor the presence of any illegal act under the Law on Cybercrime committed using a computer system. This article defines also service providers as "any public or private entity which offers users of its services to communicate by means of a computer system or any other entity that processes or stores computer data for this communication or its users".

Arts. 8-11 of the Law No. 2019-03 establishes a safe harbour regime for intermediaries beyond copyright infringements. Service providers operating as electronic communications operators cannot be held civilly or criminally liable for any content transmitted over their network or the network to which they provide access. They are not subject to a general obligation to monitor the information they transmit or store, nor to a general obligation to seek facts or circumstance to detect unlawful activities, with the exception of possible offences defined by the law on cybercrime.

Arts. 2 and 3 of Law 2020-331 require user identity proof before acquiring a SIM card and before any delivery by telecommunications companies.

Arts. 8-11 of the Law No. 2019-03 establishes a safe harbour regime for intermediaries for copyright infringements. Service providers operating as electronic communications operators cannot be held civilly or criminally liable for any content transmitted over their network or the network to which they provide access. They are not subject to a general obligation to monitor the information they transmit or store, nor to a general obligation to seek facts or circumstance to detect unlawful activities, with the exception of possible offences defined by the law on cybercrime.

According to Art. 13 of Law No. 2022-059, IT specialists or other employees of companies who are required to provide information to or testify before the High Authority for the Protection of Personal Data (HAPDP) are exempted from the obligation of professional secrecy. Art. 87 also specifies the supervisory powers of the sworn officers of the HAPDP and provides that they have access to the places, premises, facilities and installations used for the processing of personal data. The practical arrangements are yet to be laid down by decree. The necessity of a judicial warrant is not clearly settled.

Law No. 2022-059 provides a comprehensive regime of data protection in Niger. This law repealed Law No. 2017-28, which was previously regulating data protection.

Niger has not joined any agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders.

Art. 1 of the Law No. 2018-47 states that the Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et de la Poste (Electronic Communications and Post Regulatory Authority, ARCEP) , the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process and enjoys financial and management autonomy.

According to Arts. 62 and 63 of the Law No. 2022-059, transfer of personal data outside the country is subject to authorization from the Haute Autorité de Protection des Données Personnelles (HAPDP or High Authority of Personal Data Protection). Apart from the condition of authorization from the HAPDP, there are other conditions to be fulfilled, including that transfer can only be conducted to a country that guarantees a sufficient level of security or, if that condition is not met, that some conditions are fulfilled such as the authorization by the owner of the data, the necessity of the transfer for health or juridical procedure, among others.

According to Art. 15 and 16 of the Law on Electronic Communications, the supply of telecommunications services in Niger is subjected to licence, which requires commercial presence. In fact, according to Arts. 1 and 15, cross-border supply is prohibited. According to Art. 17, the licensing scheme is restrictive because it is open to public competition only when requested by the Minister in charge of electronic communications.

Niger has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

It is reported that Niger mandates functional and accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market.

Niger Telecoms is a fully state-owned telecommunications company created in 2016 by the merger of the two Nigerien state telecommunications companies Sonitel (voice and internet via fixed telephony) and Sahelcom (voice and internet via mobile telephony).

According to Arts. 3 and 4 of the Decree 2012-527/PRN/MC/NTI, passive infrastructure sharing in the telecom sector is an obligation. When telecom operators plan to deploy their telecommunications networks or services to the public, they must give priority to any solution that involves the sharing of existing infrastructure.

Niger does not have a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are limited measures addressing some issues related to them. Provisions addressing disclosure, acquisition or use of confidential information in the course of industrial or commercial activities by third parties can be found in Art. 6 of Annex VIII of the Bangui Agreement ratified by 17 French-speaking States, including Niger in 2002.