Abstract
This study examines the growing turn to anonymity in Nigerian writing and its human rights implications within an increasingly digitalized environment. Drawing on Surveillance Capitalism Theory, it argues that pervasive monitoring, data extraction, and socio-political repression significantly shape writers’ decisions to conceal their identities across literary and digital platforms. The study sought to determine how fear of repression influences anonymity adoption, assess how anonymity affects willingness to express dissenting views, and evaluate perceptions of the adequacy of human rights protections for anonymous expression in Nigeria. A quantitative research design was adopted, using structured Likert-scale questionnaires distributed to 826 members of three WhatsApp groups comprising creative writers, English students, and mass communication students. A total of 415 valid responses were analyzed using mean and standard deviation, with 2.50 as the decision benchmark. Findings indicate that fear of repression strongly motivates writers’ use of anonymity, anonymity significantly enhances willingness to critique authority and dominant narratives, and existing human rights protections for anonymous expression are widely perceived as inadequate. These results demonstrate that anonymity functions primarily as a defensive strategy rather than a stylistic choice, enabling writers to navigate surveillance, harassment, and potential legal sanctions. The study further shows that digital environments intensify expressive vulnerability, underscoring the relevance of surveillance capitalism in understanding contemporary authorship practices in Nigeria. It concludes that anonymity has become an essential mechanism for sustaining freedom of expression, particularly in politically sensitive discourse, and highlights the urgent need for legal reforms and stronger digital rights protections.