Dissemination of False Information on Social Media in Nigeria: Call for Re-Orientation and User-Education for Emerging Technologies

Abstract

There is a consideration for a bill to regulate social media (SM) use in Nigeria as a result of its indiscriminate use for the dissemination of false information. Thus, it is important to find out the most used SM handles, file formats used, level of verification and factors promoting this practice. Survey design and descriptive statistics were adopted using a self-structured questionnaire. A sample of 400 randomly selected respondents was drawn from six cities since the actual population of SM users is not known presently. With a 96.5% return rate, results show that SM is used largely in disseminating misinformation through graphic illustrations, doctored videos, edited photos with captions and voice notes/recordings (original and computer-animated forms). The major platforms in decreasing the rate of use are WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Ignorance, lack of media and information literacy skill, cultural perspectives and unawareness were identified to be key facilitating factors. Verification and validation of information on social media were found to be extremely low. The emergence and continual dissemination of false information need to be dealt with culturally by imbibing societal value re-orientation for SM users, building users understanding of information literacy and educating the masses are pertinent. The stringent legislature, mass orientation and rapid response debunking should suffice. If this is not done, it could cause socio-political tension. A system (algorithm) of information check should be developed.