A Study of Fake News in Social Media in Nigeria

A STUDY OF FAKE NEWS IN SOCIAL MEDIA IN NIGERIA (A CASE
STUDY OF ADAMAWA STATE POLYTECHNIC YOLA AS AN

INVESTIGATION
BY
Zulaihat Salihu Danumma

CSMS/NDMC/2017/221
Submitted to the Department of Mass Communication Adamawa State
Polytechnic, Yola in Partial fulfillment for the award of National Diploma in
Mass Communication of the Adamawa State Polytechnic
2019
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Abstract
The rising trend of fake news on social media in Nigeria has raised serious concern
about the survival of the country's fledgling democracy especially as the country
prepares for the 2019 polls which were expected to usher in a new set of leaders.
The federal government had in response to the menace which has reached an
alarming proportion launched a campaign against fake news in July 2018 to raise
awareness about the dangers fake news portends for the polity. While some
applaud the government for the initiative, others lampoon the government for
chasing shadows instead of addressing the root cause. This study therefore
examines the issues, controversies and problems associated with the deadly
scourge and proffer solutions to halt the growing menace of fake news in the
country.
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Chapter One
Introduction
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
In today’s contemporary society, social media has become a common and

important factor as it touches every facet of our daily life. It has affected business;
politics and the way people communicate and socialize on the web positively. The
popularity of the internet has enabled individuals use social media tools to connect
with each other online. Many businesses effectively use social media tools to
market their products and connect with existing and potential customers (Smith,
Petersen, 2018).
Social media has gained attention as the most viable communication choice for
bloggers, article writers, content creators and other users. Kaplan and Haenlein
(2010) describe social media as a group of internet-based application that build the
ideological and technological foundation of web 2.0 and that allow creation and
exchange of user-generated content. Social media includes all forms of electronic
communication, such as social networking sites and micro-blogs, through which
users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages,
and other content (images, videos).
Over the years, social media has grown rapidly because it serves various social
needs. It has grown because of the increasing importance of networking. Social
networking sites (Facebook), micro-blogging services (Twitter), content sharing
sites (YouTube, Flicker) have introduced the opportunity for large scale online
social participation.
The positive effects notwithstanding, social media has its flipside. Its negative
aspects could be seen in cyber bullying, invasion of privacy, cyber stalking, fake
news, among others. Fake news is a global phenomenon (Elebeke, 2018) that
modern societies had to contend with in this digital age. Fake news means different
thing to different people. To most people, fake news means fabricated new stories
presented without any credible evidence and for the apparent purpose to misinform
or to persuade through misinformation. Others use the term to simply describe a
news story from a traditional source that contains a mistake or news that seems to
contradict their own point of view.
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However, Rini (2017) defines a fake news story as one that “purports to describe
events in the real world, typically by mimicking the conventions of traditional
media reportage, yet is known by its creators to be significantly false and is
transmitted with the two goals of being re-transmitted and of deceiving at least
some of its audience”
The spread of fake news could either be politically motivated or economically

driven (Angus, 2018, Hunt, 2016, Politico, 2017). Creators of fake news post
articles on their websites and share them on Facebook and other platforms to
generate a lot of web traffic, which earns them money. Audience consumes fake
news from a variety of sources and young and old people are susceptible. But
particularly susceptible are young people. Fake news comes in different forms that
include distorted truth, outright lies, and exaggerated facts and so on.
There is no doubt that the advent of social media as a veritable means of

information dissemination has made communication easier. It has also made the
world a global village. But the obvious problems being observed on the social
media platforms these days are the prevalence of fake news, distorted facts, hate
speeches, blackmail and others, capable of plunging the society into undue crisis
(Ezea, 2018). Some social media users have latched on the non-regulation and
confidentiality of the platforms to abuse it, using it to spread fake news, hate
speeches and distort facts to suit their selfish desires.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
One of the fundamental tenets of democracy is freedom of expression and speech.

It is the right of individuals to hold opinions and express it without hindrance.
Considering the instrumentality of information dissemination, democratic
dispensations hold media as an enormous tool in building its institutions. To this
end, democracy thrives better on the wheel of freedom for all citizens to express
their views. However it is fundamental to note that freedom of expression which
democracy cheerfully gives is not as important as the concomitant obligation of a
responsible expression by all.
As many virtual news sources with doubtful reliability keep surfacing, the spread
of fake news which threatens quality journalism and media literacy is on the
increase in Nigeria. The problem is not only unique to online environments; it is
also present in the conventional media in spite of the concrete fact checking
network prevalent. However there are lots of studies across the globe about fake
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news but do not specifically capture the aspect of fake news and in social media in
Nigeria, specifically Adamawa state polytechnic Yola.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this study is to examine effect of fake news in social media
in Nigeria within the premise of Freedom of Expression. Specifically, the study is
tied to the following objectives:
• To find out the rate of the spread of fake news among students of Adamawa state
polytechnic Yola on both social and conventional media.
• To examine the perception of media audience on fake news and abuse of freedom
of expression
• To find out the effect of fake news on students’ well- being in Adamawa state
polytechnic Yola.
• To determine measures that can be adopted in combating fake news among the
students.
1.4 Research Questions
In order to achieve the aforementioned objectives, the research will answer the
following questions:
• What is rate of the spread of fake news among the students of Adamawa state
polytechnic Yola on both social and conventional media?
•Do media audience have perception on fake news and abuse of freedom of
expression?
• What are the perceptions?
• What is the effect of fake news on students’ well-being in Adamawa state

polytechnic Yola?
1.5 Scope of the Study
The scope of this study is limited to Adamawa state polytechnic Yola.The

institution suffered the most destructive impact of fake news, especially among the
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students; hence the likelihood of spreading, accepting and believing all kinds of
news without fact checking to ensure source credibility is high and because of that
the spread of fake news thrives more especially on virtual platforms. Since
freedom of expression to a great extent gives the right to air opinions without
restrictions, what happens then, if this privilege is abused? It is on this brink that
the survey found it imperative to study fake news and its effects in the social media
within the Adamawa state polytechnic Yola.
1.6 Significance and Justification of the Study
Building a strong peace depends on strict adherence to its tenets and propositions
by leaders and the leads. In spite of the countless challenges encountered that have
slowed the pace of genuine progress, outstanding developments in numerous
spheres have been accrued. No doubt the media is instrumental in the facilitation of
all-inclusive citizens’ participation and societal development through sound
reportage and spread of genuine information. However when laxity is found in the
fact checking system of both new and conventional media, fakes new becomes the
order of the day. Based on the leverage freedom of expression offers, the growing
trend of fake news has caused serious chaos in diverse aspects of societal
endeavours. The common assumption trending now is, if this chaos is not
curtailed, its effects on Nigeria as a nation could be devastating. Since all effort
now tilts towards combating fake news for quality journalism and development,
this study will examine a study of fake news in social media in Nigeria; Adamawa
state polytechnic: An investigation. The outcome of this study will alert
government, civil society organisations (CSOs) and all other pro-democratic
groups on the need to enact strategies and mechanism for combating fake news in
order to ensure quality journalism and a responsible expression by all.
The result of the study will also provide a framework for media practitioners that
will enable them exercise a good information sharing behaviour basically for the
fact that the success of every institution or state rest on the media. It will also
provide an insight for them to understand the effect of fake news in the social
media for the betterment of the country. Furthermore, the outcome of the study will
make available ready materials for policymakers towards censoring falsehood in
both new and conventional media industry so that citizens can express their
opinions responsibly for the greater good of the country.
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1.7 Operation Definition of Terms
Disinformation: Is false information spread deliberately to deceive.
Menace: Is something that is likely to cause harm.
Rumour Mill: Used to refer to the process by which rumours and gossip are
originated and circulated among a group of people.
National Policy: A broad course of action or statements of guidance adopted by

the government at the national level in pursuit of national objectives.
Social networking sites: Is an online platform that allows users to create a public
profile and interact with other users on the website.
Fact-Checking: It is the process of attempting to verify or disprove assertions

made in speech, print media or online content.
Transparency: Is government’s obligation to share information with citizens that

is needed to make informed decisions and hold officials accountable for the
conduct of the people’s business.
Hoax: A hoax is a falsehood deliberately fabricated to masquerade as the truth.
Smartphone: A mobile telephone with computer features that may enable it to

interact with computerized systems, send e-mails, and access the web.
Falsehood: A falsehood is a statement that distorts or suppresses the truth, in order

to deceive.
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Chapter Two
Literature Review
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Fake news
Fake news is a neologism often used to refer to fabricated news. This type of news,
found in traditional news, social media or fake news websites, has no basis, but is
presented as being factually accurate (Wikipedia, n.d).
Claire Wardle of First Draft News identifies seven types of fake news; Satire or
parody (no intention to cause harm but has potential to fool), false connection
(when headlines, visuals or captions don’t support the content), misleading content
(misleading use of information to frame an issue or an individual), false context
(when genuine content is shared with false contextual information), imposter
content (when genuine sources are impersonated with false, made-up sources),
manipulated content (when genuine information or imagery is manipulated to
deceive, as with a doctored photo) and fabricated content (new content is 100%
false, designed to deceive and do harm) (Wikipedia, n.d).
Fake news is a global issue right now; there is an ongoing discussion about fake
news and its impact on global affairs. There are several reports that Russia planted
fake news stories to influence the outcome of the United States elections. Also,
social media was abuzz with certain ‘Pizzagate’ scandal- a news story claiming
Hillary Clinton and her campaign chairman John Podesta were the ringleaders of a
pedophilia ring running out of Washington DC. The story was proven fake when
The New York Times and the Washington Post tracked it down and debunked it
(Adeleke, 2016). One of the main subjects of attack of the fake news phenomenon
is Facebook, the world’s largest social network with a monthly active user base of
1.7 billion, more than the population of China and the United States combined. The
platform has been used to peddle all kinds of news stories, all in a bid for platforms
to rake in advertising revenue. For long, Facebook (or rather Mark Zuckerberg)
denied its fake news problem. However, after a lot of pressure, it finally to do
something about it by introducing a fake news signal that makes it easy for users to
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report and identify fake news. The flagged fake news will then be reviewed by
Facebook’s fact checkers, an army of third party journalists from media
organizations (Adeleke, 2016).
The spread of the fake news phenomenon on the internet is caused by the internet’s
ever connected nature and the preference for speed over accuracy. Because internet
content providers and distributors are in Zero-sum, winner-takes-all battle for
attention and advertising revenue, they will do any and everything to boost traffic.
Unlike print publications that usually have the luxury of time before reporting a
breaking story the next day, online publications are necessitated by the franticness
of the world in which they find themselves. On the internet, you either go fast or
go home. Many journalists, because they are competing for attention and
mindshare, are forced to publish first and verify later, and this is what is hurting
our world (Adeleke, 2016).
However, Nigeria has this problem too but there’s not a lot of discussion going on
about it. New sites and blogs publish stories without first authenticating the
sources. Fake news stories are usually sensational in nature and so are very likely
to spread quickly. And because the platforms containing the news already have a
massive reader base that looks to them for information, the stories will most likely
be believed by the people that read them.
These people will, in turn, share the story on social media (because who doesn’t
like to pride themselves on being one of the first to know), and the show, sadly,
goes on and on. Sometimes, even after the story has been debunked, the fake news
still prevails (Adeleke, 2016).
Furthermore, as regards to fake news the Federal Government in Abuja launched a

national campaign against fake news. According to the Minister of Information and
Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed at the formal launching of the campaign stated that
fake news was becoming a serious threat to global peace, including Nigeria, that if
left unchecked, could endanger human existence. The minister, who also described
fake news as a dangerous threat to democracy, noted that fake news when mixed
with hate speech would amount to a disaster waiting to happen (Elebeke, 2018).
On the impact of fake news, the Minister of Information and Culture said ‘’the
global epidemic of fake news is already having far reaching repercussions across
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the world. A recent study by researchers at Ohio State University in the United
States concluded that Russian interference and the fake news it promoted probably
played a significant role in depressing Hilary Clinton’s support on Election Day
during the 2016 presidential elections in the United States. Among the Fake News
circulated ahead of the election were: Clinton is in poor health due to a serious
disease; Pope Francis endorsed candidate Trump; Clinton approved weapons sales
to Islamic Jihadists etc.
In India, about a dozen people have been killed just because of fake news of hoax
messages (Elebeke, 2018). The victims were lynched after they were falsely
accused of child abduction based on fake messages circulated via the social media
platform, WhatsApp.
Right here in Nigeria, the situation is not better. It is not restricted to the social
media. On 5th July, 2018, the front page headline of a national newspaper was:
Court orders National Assembly to begin impeachment of Buhari. The problem
with that news item is that it is fake news. According to the certified true copy of
the order, the Presiding Judge of the Federal High Court in Oshogbo ordered and I
quote: “The applicants are hereby granted leave to issue and bring an Application
for the order of Mandamus to compel 1st to 3rd Respondents to start impeachment
proceedings against the 4th Respondent, the president of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria. This was manipulated to read that the court has given the go-ahead for the
National Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings against the President.
In 2017, a fake report circulated on the social media claimed that five students of
the College of Education, Gidan Waya, were ambushed and killed by Fulani
herdsmen in Southern Kaduna. That report turned out to be false. No student was
killed. I can go on and on (Elebeke, 2018).
Finally, the essence of the campaign is to sensitize all Nigerians to the dangers
posed to the peace and security, and indeed the corporate existence of Nigeria by
the phenomenon, and the fact that each and every Nigerian has a role to play in
curtailing the spread of fake news. Also, the study looked at impact of fake news in
Nigeria, the likely causes, the effects and possible ways to reduce it to insignificant
level.
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2.2. Causes of Fake News
Below are the major causes of fake news in Nigeria and the world at large.
Relevance: For media outlets, the ability to attract viewers to their websites is by
publishing a story with false content which benefits advertisers and improves
ratings.
Hostile government and civil actors have also been implicated in generating and
propagating fake news, particularly during elections (Wikipedia, n.d).
Money making: Jestin Coler, former CEO of the fake media conglomerate
Disinfomedia, said that his company employed 20 to 25 writers at a time and made
$10,000 to $30,000 monthly from advertisements (Wikipedia, n.d). This is not far
from fake Nigerian media outlet.
Poor regulation of the internet: The internet was first made accessible for public
use in the 1990s; its main purpose was for the seeking and accessing of
information. As fake news was introduced to the internet, this made it difficult for
some people to find truthful information. The impact of fake news has become a
worldwide phenomenon. Fake news is often spread through the use of fake news
websites, which, in order to gain credibility, specialize in creating attention-
grabbing news, which often impersonate well-known news sources (Wikipedia,
n.d).
2.3. Effects of Fake News in Nigeria
Fake news aggravates herders/farmers crises in Nigeria: The British Broadcasting

Corporation (BBC) has reported that fake news circulating in the social media is
fueling the farmers/ herdsmen crises in Nigeria. In the report by the media
organization, it stated that “fake pictures circulating on social media which users
are falsely claiming depict inter-communal violence are inflaming already high
tensions in Nigeria” (Adekunle, 2018). The international media outfit, specifically
made reference to repellent images circulating in the social media which the
originators purportedly claimed was from recent violence in Jos, Plateau State. A
gruesome image of a woman faces down in a pool of blood with a gaping shoulder
wound is purported to be from the recent attacks. It has hundreds of retweets on
Twitter, but it first appeared on the internet in 2011 in a story about domestic
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violence in Nigeria. Another image appears to show half a dozen people that were
killed in the attacks.
On closer inspection it becomes clear that the picture was not taken in Nigeria, and
is actually the scene of a 2015 traffic accident in the Dominican Republic
(Adekunle, 2018).
Also, major Nigerian news outlets ran a story claiming that Danladi Ciroma, a
leader of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, said the attacks in Plateau
were revenge for the loss of 300 cows. “Since, these cows were not found, no-one
should expect peace in the areas”, Mr Ciroma was reported to have said.
Ciroma had refuted the report and the media organization had reportedly tendered
apology (Adekunle, 2018).
Fake news most times instigates confusion, tension, suicide depending on the
person or institution on the other end and it undermines serious media coverage
and makes it more difficult for journalists to cover significant news stories
(Wikipedia, n.d).
2.4 Understanding Fake News
The term “fake news‟ is false, often sensational information disseminated under
the guise of news reporting (Collins Dictionary, 2017, online). The term is gaining
global attention over the years that it was named the Collins Dictionary Word of
the Year in 2017 due to its increased usage by 365% in the Collins Corpus
(Towers-Clark, 2018, October 4). According to the Ethical Journalism Network
(EJN), fake news is information deliberately fabricated and published with the
intention to deceive and mislead others into believing falsehood or doubtful
messages (EJN, 2017). The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) defines fake
news as “completely false information, photos or videos purposefully created and
spread to confuse or dis-inform; information, photos or videos manipulated to
deceive, or old photographs shared as new; satire or parody which means no harm
but can fool people” (BBC News, 2019 June 29, online). Globally, the issue of
fake news has assumed increased concern because of its impact in the 2016 US
Presidential elections campaigns and the Brexit referendum. Furthermore, one of
Nigeria’s independent verification and fact-checking platforms,
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Dubawa, which is supported by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative
Journalism (PTCIJ) defines fake news or false information as fraudulent,
inaccurate or false verbal or visual messages disseminated for public attention
through the conventional or social media, hugely to mislead, dis-inform or
misdirect. It is a fluid subject that is differently perceived, interpreted and
understood by individuals depending on many factors. Fake news is often
embellished, sensationalized and made alarmingly attractive. Sometimes, it can be
difficult to detect fraudulent news especially when such stories contain
authoritative lies except through critical examination of the words mostly designed
to capture and retain the attention of receivers in uncommon ways. Fake news is
subtly and sophisticatedly presented to hide its falsity with unverifiable sources or
claims. Fake news violates contextual and multicultural realities through mischief
and ignorance presented as valid information (Dubawa, 2019, Ting & Song, 2017).
Furthermore, Steinmetz (2018 September 6, online) notes that fake news debases
the truth and causes “confusion of fantasy and reality” in the minds of the
audience. As noted by Siapera (2018), there are three significant factors that
characterize the current brand of fake news. First, the ease by which people can
create contents; second, the distribution patterns across new and social media, and
third, the political economy of the online domain which enables and incentivizes
the creation of these forms of news. She further noted that anyone with internet
access can effectively produce and distribute contents of any kind of quality and
that “people can avail of the various functionalities of computer software such as
photo shop and create highly believable contents…. Fake news can travel very far
on the internet” (Siapera, 2018).
The profile of fake news was facilitated by the advent of the internet; the rise of
populism politics in different parts of the world like the 2016 US presidential
election (Davies, 2017; Persily, 2017); the rise of tyrannical leaders, and; the
Brexit referendum (McGonagle, 2017). Fake news is a complex phenomenon that
can be defined based on three parameters as suggested by Wardle (2017): the type
of content created and shared; the intentions of those behind this, and; the forms of
dissemination. Wardle (2017) further identified seven different categories of fake
news in the following order: satire/parody, misleading content, impostor content,
fabricated content, false connection, false context and manipulated content. In
another way, one can collapse the seven categories into two broad forms of fake
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news, namely (i) high-profile fake news (Mc Gonagle, 2017; Tower-Clark, 2018)
and (ii) low-profile fake news (McGonagle, 2017; Mendel, 2015). High-profile
fake news refers to misleading information and other contents that emanate from
prominent sources while low-profile fake news is simply the opposite of high-
profile fake news, that is, disinformation that emerges from subtle, inconspicuous,
or ordinary sources. In addition, four specific sources of fake news have been
variously identified: (i) state/government fake news (ii) organizational/institutional
fake news (iii) group-based fake news and (iv) individual fake news (BBC News,
2018 November 12; Simon, 2017; Mendel, 2015). Fake news is a real challenge in
Nigeria especially given the country’s fragile social setting, loose democratic
culture, poverty, illiteracy, depressing human conditions, inflation, weak economy,
intolerance and high tendencies for disunity among the peoples of the country
(Ogola, 2017).
As Nigeria rises to curb the negative impact of fake news on its democratic
process, Pate (2018 September 7) offers some recommended to help individuals
and newsrooms to instantly identify and avoid being victims of fake news:
1) Check sources: individuals are encouraged to fall back on most trusted news
brands they could rely on for their news.
2) Fact-check from multiple sources
3) Use verification tools
4) Check metadata
5) Think before broadcasting/publishing
6) Media literacy: increase the standard of education and media literacy
particularly for young people to be highly critical on what to trust on
conventional and social media platforms
7) Use fact checking sites
8) Individuals and newsrooms should institute the culture of fact-checking for
stories and claims
A good introduction answers these questions in just a few pages and, by

summarizing the relevant arguments and the past evidence, gives the reader a firm
sense of What was done and why (Beck & Sales, 2001).
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2.5. Management of Fake News
Brian Hughes, a professor of media studies at Queens College, City University of

New York, writes that “it would be a mistake to pressure Facebook and Google
into acting as censors” for news because, “we have already seen how much such an
approach can backfire’’. He cites the example of Facebook’s manipulation of its
trending newsfeed to suppress conservative news. This, he says, only increases
public distrust for the media, turning them to less credible news sources instead.
Professor Hughes says we should consider the possibility of adopting the Fairness
Doctrine for digital media. He says it should be possible for companies like
Facebook to ‘’individually program our news feeds for balance and accuracy’
’since they are already able to identify consumer niches (Adeleke, 2016).
Nicholas Lemann of the New Yorker argues for more government involvement as
a way of solving this problem. He says that ‘’it’s facile and unhelpful to assume
that government’s role in journalism can be either nothing or absolute control for
propaganda purposes’’. He proposes that the government invest more in the pubic
media to give more room for press freedom and journalistic integrity. But i wonder
how effective this will be if we try to adopt it to Nigeria, considering the country’s
political climate, one where the government is viewed as corrupt and
untrustworthy.
We cannot eliminate fake news. As long as there are people willing to buy tabloids
and read blogs that they already know contain lies and half-truths, and as long as
we have uneducated people who are unable to differentiate between real and fake
news, fake news will continue to sell. The solution to the fake news problem lies in
the online media revenue model. Articles online are optimized for clicks. That
means that the best performing content-headline, article body, the images etc- are
designed, wittingly or unwittingly, to get people to click on them. The more clicks
and the more time spent on an article, the better the analytics figure, the more
likely the media house is to attract premium advertising revenue. So, to get from
the point of content to more revenue, many times media platforms water down
journalistic standards and integrity. Online media is a zero-sum game: the more
time someone spends on your platform, the more time they spend way from other
platforms (Adeleke, 2016).
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The Minister stated that big technology companies like Google, Facebook and
Twitter have started to address the problem. Google is reported to have dedicated
300 million US dollars over the next three years towards efforts to fight the spread
of false information. Facebook, according to Bloomberg, took down 583million
fake accounts in the first three months of 2018. According to Reuters, Twitter
suspended over 70 million accounts in May and June this year alone, and the pace
of suspension has continued. Apart from the big technological organizations, the
European Commission, in January 2018, set up a high-level group of experts to
advice on policy initiatives to counter fake news and disinformation spread online
(Elebeke, 2018).
According to Jamie Angus, the Director of BBC World Service Group encouraged
people to fall back on the most trusted news brands they could rely on for their
news sources. He also advocated increased standard of education and media
literacy. He went further to say that there is need to educate the young people in
particular on what is trustworthy and what is fake. Media literacy is key in this
regard. It is also important for people to invest more in making journalists to
partner with reputable and credible international media organizations. Again,
government must find ways to support its core traditional media for acceptability
over the social media. Finally, Nigeria must find a way to ensure that its national
newspapers and TV stations are sustainable to practice quality journalism that will
be acceptable to people. When you do that successfully, you will consider good
independent regulation of the media; with this will reduce the attention that the
fake media get and penalty should be given for maliciously published items
(Okogba, 2018).
2.6 Why Fake News Spreads Fast?
Fake news is not new. It is as old as one can remember. However, its
intensification is more in recent times because of the wide usage of the internet and
cheap access to social media platforms, competitive politics and deepening poverty
and ethno-religious fight for supremacy. Many more reasons can be adduced for
the fast spread of fake news in the country. Some of the reasons have been outlined
by Pate (2018 September 7) as follows:
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1) General distrust of elites, leaders and politicians by majority of Nigerians.
Nigerian elites and politicians enjoy low credibility rating among the population
because of their record of failures, lies and unworthy conduct in several respects.
Because of that, many Nigerians tend to believe whatever negative information
dished out by opponents.
2) Absence or most often late arrival of official information on issues. This creates
vacuum conveniently filled in by rumors and disinformation
3) Availability of cheap data services is facilitating explosive use of social media

platforms (Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and YouTube) to spread of rumors,
propaganda and fake information
4) Sensationalized fake news is disseminated for economic reasons, especially on

social media, where efforts are often made to attract people to pages and timelines
of bloggers and senders for clicks
5) Desperate politicians, ethnic and religious jingoists, foreign interests and

mischief makers generate fake news for influence or to persuade the audience
6) Low capacity of the media to be able to gather, process and verify immediate
and distant information in real time exacerbates fake news through the internet or
social media platforms where majority lack gatekeeping processes.
2.7 Freedom of expression, social media and fake news
In contemporary media landscape, journalists, communications experts and others

see expression as a weapon. The Internet which provides open space for the
exercise of the right to receive and impart information has redefine public
discourse and information sharing process. The open nature of the Internet, social
media and the lack of total regulation and restrictions by authorities in Nigeria and
the world at large defiles freedom of expression. However, in a number of cases,
countries like China in order to prevent access to certain content, adopted measures
such as blocking and filtering for the purpose of adequate regulation.
In Nigeria, before the advent of social media, people rely on the conventional
media as their reliable and trusted news source. This is because, the conventional
media provide the public with well researched news that were gate kept and
scrutinized. Our democracy thrived on this model impressively. Unfortunately, the
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social media arrive with a freedom for public to develop and distribute information
in their own quota. This is a new model that has been abused for several selfish and
nonchalant reasons. It provides the public with anonymity and immunity to by cut
the order. As a result, some unscrupulous elements with gruesome intentions use
the social media to create fake news and distribute. Such news has created public
chaos, communal clashes, political tension as well as economic threats which are
very pillar in democratic dispensation. To this end, it can be deduced that fake
news is a threat to Nigeria's growing democracy not just as a country with high
population but as a country with huge diversity and differences.
In order to combat fake news, scholars posit that glaring discrepancies should be
enacted in respect of how freedom of expression is exercised physically (offline)
and virtually (online). The potentially universal accessibility of the Internet by
everyone as a publisher; and its ability to support new, democratic public spaces
for debate (the so-called virtual public square value of the Internet) where social
media handlers explore platforms for mobilization and incorporation of citizens in
protest schemes regardless of distance and geographical barriers; a worrying trend,
must be carefully checked..
2.8 Misinformation, disinformation and malinformation
Central to the discourse of ‘fake news’ are three key concepts: misinformation,
disinformation and mal-information. Information scientists have long debated the
nature of information: what it is, where it comes from and the kinds of actions it
affords humans, information sharing behaviour is integral to humans, people value
exchanging information even when it is true or false which are diffused via social
networks, as misinformation and disinformation. Social media have made such
diffusion easier and faster. According to Bell [1] misinformation and
disinformation are deliberate and intentional lie.
Zhou et al. [2] in Fallis, connotes that' while disinformation may realistically be
inaccurate, it must not necessarily be inaccurate as long as it is misleading and
defines meaning deviating from facts. Fallis argued that disinformation can portray
meanings which could be ambiguous in the milieu of a particular condition.
Buckland [3] added that, depending on the context, information is a thing, a

process bounded by informativeness. According to him, misinformation and
disinformation may also be things, processes, or knowledge, and therefore
informative, by implying or revealing information which sometime tends to be
18
accidental or deliberate depending on how the receiver interpret it in relation to
fact.
On the other hand, mal-information is seen to be information that is premised on

realism, but adopted either deliberately or otherwise to perpetrate damage on a
person, organisation or country. A typical example is the publication of a report
which unveils sexual orientation of a person without public interest justification. It
is however necessary to discern messages that are factual from those that are not,
and those with little iota of truth) framed and published with the intension of
demeaning rather than serve the public interest.
Misinformation, disinformation and mal-information are raw materials that form

fake news, information sharing systems which are currently and mostly
unregulated have altered with conventional information behaviour. Information
published based on falsehood whether with little iota of facts can have devastating
consequences on governments, people, businesses, information professionals, and
user experience designers, as well as other groups. Misinformation is problematic
largely because it can create confusion and mistrust among receivers, and can
make information difficult to use.
2.9 Theoretical Framework
The study adopted Source Credibility Theory, Elaboration Likelihood Theory and
Theory of Rumour Transmission as theoretical foundation for the study (Figure 1).
19
Figure 1: Figurative theoretical Framework. Source: Credibility theory.
Source credibility theory was proposed in 1963 by Hovland, Janis and Kelly. The
theory stated that information receivers are more likely to be persuaded when the
source presents itself as credible [4]. According to Credibility Institute [5] the
initial idea of credibility was first derived from Aristotle who posits that “speaker’s
reliability must be built and established in speech and that what the speaker did or
said before such a speech was not of importance”. The theory is applicable in
various intellectual fields to include law, Political sciences, communication and
marketing [5]. The central doctrinal kernel of source credibility was used to
explain how communication's persuasiveness is affected by the perceived
credibility of the source of the communication [6]. The credibility of all
communication, regardless of format, has been found to be heavily influenced by
the perceived credibility of the source of that communication. The diagram below
illustrates theory (Figure 2):
20
Figure 2: The Credibility.
The theorists confirmed that credible sources tend to create the desired impact on
the audience. Basically, the theory posits that there are two most commonly visible
elements which positively influence source credibility and they are: perceived
expertise and trustworthiness of the source [4].
Elaboration likelihood model
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) is a persuasion-based theory which

propounds that recipients of a message will process the message through either a
central route or a peripheral route. Petty & Cacioppo identified that under the
central route, individuals think carefully about issue-relevant arguments and the
quality of the message content while in the peripheral route, individuals engage in
little scrutiny of message content, and focus on peripheral cues such as source
credibility.
21
Theoretical Framework
Theory of Rumor Transmission
The theory has in its early research on rumors, identified ambiguity and importance
as the main drivers of rumor transmission [7]. In addition, Anthony added anxiety
as another important driver. On these bases, Oh et al. [8] introduced a model to
explain rumor mongering on Twitter during a social crisis. Oh, Agrawal and Rao’s
effort was understood to focus on factors explaining why rumours are generated on
Twitter (rumor transmission). In doing so, they particularly identify and explain
cues in a Twitter message that signal it to be a rumor. These cues also reflect
feelings and behaviours of rumor senders.
Oh, Agrawal, and Rao’s model contained five antecedents. The five antecedents
are explicated below:
• Anxiety: reflects the negative emotional state of a rumor sender.
• Source ambiguity: reflects whether a rumor sender understands the origin of a

message and its trustworthiness. It is a relevant driver for messages brought into a
network from outside sources (e.g., agencies or news services).
• Content ambiguity: reflects the interpretability and clarity of the message itself.
• Personal involvement: represents the importance of a rumor to the sender.

Finally, to measure social pressures from other members on a rumor sender
• Directed message: Oh et al. added directed message as a new variable arguing

that directed messages were more likely to be rumors. A directed message on
social media is a message sent to a specific Twitter, Facebook or WhatsApp user.
Justifications of the Theories
The study used five (5) antecedents of the theory of rumour transmission to explain
its link with this study. Oh, Agrawal and Rao suggested that anxiety, source
ambiguity and personal involvement significantly lead to rumor transmission,
while effects of content ambiguity and directed message received no support.
Firstly, the anxiety which reflect negative emotional intent of the sender means that
some social media users send rumours to other with negative intent of causing
chaos. Secondly, source ambiguity which reflects the doubt in the source of
information being sent across. In this sense, many social media users send
22
information wider without verifying the source. This connotes with the suggestion
of the ELM on peripheral cues. Thirdly, Oh, Agrawal and Rao identified personal
involvement as a driver in spreading rumor. For instance, in a crisis situation
message on social media that is related to the crisis would be fast spread by
especially the people who are involved regardless of its credibility.
According to the source credibility theory, trustworthiness, expertise and

attractiveness of information is what attract and convince information receivers to
share certain information. The theory has elements of persuasion. This means that
messages, news and other information has to acquire certain features to persuade
media or social media users before sharing it. The theory was selected because it
explains elements of reasons why fake news spread like wild fire. This is for the
fact that social media users do not inquire the genuineness of information rather
looks at its attractiveness and expertise in its syntax.
ELM is a useful theory for studying rumor mongering especially in a crises area
because central and peripheral cues are both important in this context. But
peripheral cues are more important in this study because there is typically a lack of
verified information in crisis and people look to peripheral cues when facts are
hard to verify. To this end, the high level of rumour mongering on social media
arrive due to the adoption of peripheral cues in verifying sources of information
before spreading the message content.
23
Chapter Three
Methodology
The study used descriptive method and adopted survey as methodology. According
to Adefila [9] survey research is also called descriptive research which focuses on
populations or the universe. He added that in Survey, data are collected from the
population for intensive study and analysis. Survey is not done haphazardly, but
follows an established process that can be followed, documented and replicated
[10]. According to Fajonyomi and Fajonyomi [11] survey methodology is applied
when the unit of analysis is individual, either alone or as members of a group. The
unit of analysis here is individuals (social media users).
Survey research has several advantages or strengths compared to other research

methods. Bhattacherjee, [12] noted that surveys are an excellent vehicle for
measuring a wide variety of unobservable data such as people’s preference, traits,
attitude or factual information. It also has an advantage of collecting data from a
population that is too large to observe directly. Also, it allows respondents to
provide their answers in their convenient time and places among other advantages.
These advantages have also been identified by Adefila, Babbie, Davies and
Modsell [9,10,13]. This study has target population. The population includes all
social media users in Borno and Yobe States. The estimated number of social
media in these
The study used the purposive or judgmental and accidental sampling technique.
Purposive sampling [14] refers to a form of sampling procedure that involves
selecting elements based on the researcher’s judgment about which elements will
facilitate his or her investigation. The sample will be purposively selected from the
social media users from Borno and Yobe state. The purposive and accidental
selection will enable the study to select those who have experience and awareness
of the spread of fake news. The study selected thirty (60) social media users. The
study selected thirty (30) from Borno and thirty (40) from Yobe State.
Questionnaire has been adopted as tool for data collection. Questionnaire is a

survey instrument used for obtaining information from respondents in a systematic
way. According to Adefila [9] it is a special form of correspondence developed to
procure authoritative information from a number of persons through the medium of
well-directed questions. The questionnaire will be designed in both close-ended
and openended format. The questionnaire will be divided into segments. The first
segment will seek to elicit demographic data of the respondents; on the other hand,
24
the second segment will seek to elicit answers from the respondents on the set
objectives. The questionnaire will be administered to 60 respondents (i.e 30 in
Maiduguri and 30 in Damaturu). Charts, tables and graphical representations will
be used for data presentation and analysis.
25
26
Chapter Four
Data Analysis and interpretation
This section presents the results obtained from the survey conducted by the study.
The presentation will be made with the aid of tables and charts. Each table or chart
is followed by analysis of the data it contained. The analysis is done using both
quantitative and qualitative analysis. The quantitative analysis is one using
percentages and numerical representations while the qualitative analysis is done to
address the opened-ended questions designed in the questionnaire. This is because;
they are designed to collect qualitative data from the respondents. The result are in
Table 1.
Table 1: Do you know fake news?
S/N Response Frequency Percentage
1 Yes 54 90%
2 No 6 10%
Total 60 100.00%
Source: Field Survey, 2019.
Table 1 presents result from the study’s quest to measure the awareness of the
respondents about fake news. The result shows that 90% of the respondents are
aware of what fake news is while only 10% do not have awareness of fake news.
This shows that majority of the respondents are aware of fake news and thus
establish ground for the suitability of the respondents to the study (Figure 3).
27
Figure 3: Where do you come in contact with fake news? Source: Field Survey,
2019.
The chart above presents result regarding the exposure of the respondents to fake
news on the media. The result indicated that 41(68%) of the respondents come in
contact with fake news on social media pages. Only 6(10%) of the respondents
chose that they come in contact with fake news on conventional media while
13(22%) of the respondent come in contact with fake news on both conventional
and social media. The result suggests that social media is the major carrier of fake
news while conventional media record least number of fake news.
Figure 4 presents result from the quest to find out the frequency of the spread of
fake news on either social or conventional media. The result shows that 7% of the
respondent who are active on social media come in contact with fake news in every
minute, 20% suggest that they see fake news every hour, 15% come in contact with
fake news week on the media they suggest in the previous chart while only 8%
suggested that they see fake news in every month. This can be attributed to the fact
that the social media which provides free access to users propels the frequency of
spread of fake news more than any other media of communication.
28
Figure 4: What is the frequency of spread of fake news on the media you choose
in the previous question? Source: Field Survey, 2019.
Table 2 presents data on share ability of information among the respondents. This
was done to access how much do the respondents who come in contact with fake
news do share such news. The result shows that 95% of the respondents share
information while only 5% do not share information. This means that majority of
the respondents contribute in the information sharing system of media cycle. It also
suggests that respondents play role in either fuelling or controlling the spread of
fake news on the media they use (Table 3).
Table 2: Do you share information?
1 Yes 57 95%
2 No 3 5%
Total 60 100.00%
29
Table 3: Do you verify information before sharing?
1 Yes 22 36.70%
2 No 38 63.30%
Total 60 100.00%
In the above result, the study quest to find out if the respondents verify the
authenticity and source of information before sharing. The result shows that 36.7%
of the respondents do verify the authenticity of information before sharing while
63.3% of the respondents do not verify information before sharing. This means that
despite the awareness of fake news among the respondents, there is limited
alertness with regard to sensitivity of verifying information before sharing. This
further establish that majority of users on social media do not find time to verify
information before sharing.
Do you know that sharing suspicious information without verifying could lead
to spread of fake news?
The study also sought to know if the respondents know that sharing information
without adequate verification could led to fast spread of fake news. The result
indicated that 27(45%) of the respondents suggested that they know such cause and
effect while 33(55%) declared that there they are not aware of such instances. This
means that lack of awareness on what spread of unverified information may cause
is a major factor in the spread of fake news on social media platforms. This study
puts that the users on social media are not aware of the dangers of their actions on
such platforms (Figure 5).
30
Figure 5: What is the nature of fake news you come across on the media you
expose to? Source: Field Survey, 2019.
The Figure 5 above presents result from the quest of the study to find out the
natures and frequency of each type of fake news being circulated on the social
media. The respondents suggest that 45% of the fake news they see on media are
political in nature, 30% of the fake news they are crisis related, 15% of the fake
news are related to social aspect of life, 7% of the fake news they see on the social
media are related to entertainment. There are 3% who suggest that there is also
fake news in the aspect of sport, economic and cultural. This means that politics
and crisis suffer more fake news than any other nature. This is why social media
become very congested with so much unverified information and fake news during
political or elections period. Not just political period but also when crisis spurs in
various angles. Fake news becomes subject of discourse because they fuel either of
the political tension or crisis margin (Figure 6).
31
Figure 6: What is your perception of fake news? Source: Field Survey, 2019.
The result contained in Figure 6 above shows the perception of the respondents
regarding fake news. 36% of the respondents perceive fake news as dangerous,
27% of the respondents perceive fake news as safe which has no danger, 15% of
the respondents perceive and believed that fake news fuels crisis, 7% of the
respondents perceive fake news as something that create or increase tension, 3%
perceive fake news as normal and it does none of the above while 12% of the
respondents perceive fake news as critical and its best explained by all of the
above. This means that fake news is still crucial because there are rounds of
perceptions that influence its nature and thus its spread.
Table 4 presents result regarding the perception of the respondents on spreading

fake news as abuse of freedom of expression. The study intends to measure how
the respondents perceive the above hypothesis. The result shows that 36.7% of the
respondent perceive spread of fake news as abuse of freedom of expression, 45%
of the respondents perceive spread of fake news not as abuse of freedom of
expression while 18.3% of the respondents remain undecided. The result indicated
that the reason why fake news is still spread is because the social media users do
32
not believe spreading such information is an abuse of freedom they enjoy on such
platforms (Figure 7).
Table 4: Do you think spreading fake news is an abuse of freedom of expression?
1 Yes 22 36.70%
2 No 27 45%
3 Undecided 11 18.30%
Total 60 100.00%
Figure 7: Why do you think people spread fake news? Source: Field Survey, 2019.
33
The above chart presents result from the quest of the study to find out the
perception of the respondents on why social media users spread fake news. The
result shows that 28% of the respondent suggest that ignorance of fake news and
what it may cause is the major reason people share fake news, 41% of the
respondents attributed the spread of fake news to political ambition of some
people, 12% of the respondents perceive that people spread fake news to attack
personalities of others, 7% of the respondent perceive the reason for the spread of
fake news to self- satisfaction while 12% of the respondents attributed it to all of
the above perceptions.
Do you think fake news have effect on democratic system of government?
The study sought to know if the respondents know that the spread of fake news has
effect on democratic system of government. The result indicated that 27(45%) of
the respondents suggested that spreading fake news has effect on smooth operation
of democracy while 33(55%) declared that spread of fake news has no effect on
democratic system of government. This means that there is gross misunderstanding
or underestimation of what fake news can cause in a society that practice
democracy. This is also another reason why spread of fake news is on increase.
Why?
In this section the study collected qualitative data from opened-ended question.
The study quests to find out, why the respondents hold above perception regarding
the effect of fake news on democratic system of government. The following are
some of the response collected.
The responses are categorized into two. The first category are those that support
the fact that fake news affect democracy while the second category are those that
think it does not affect democracy. There are responses that were filtered to have
not taken side.
Some of the responses in the first category include:
“Because it affects the way decisions are made.”
“Every country needs communication which is accurate and not unreliable

information like fake news which has so much potential to strike tensions and
fights. Every country that practice democracy will love to enjoy peace and vibrant
communication system”
34
“fake news raises tension in the polity”
“it (fake news) lead to rise in tension among the populace and sometimes create
unnecessary crisis among different cultures and religious beliefs.”
“Fake news is evil”
“Fake news affects the trust in the communication system of a country. For
instance when authorities disseminate information people tend to think the
information is fake too”
Some of the responses from the second category include;
“Fake news does not have any impact on government”
“to think it (fake news) affect democratic system of government is too myopic and
lack of understanding of how government operate”
“Fake is safe because is a fun thing we do on social media”
“There is no relationship between government and fake news”
“Government in our country (Nigeria) bothers a lot on fake news which does not
affect them in anyway, I think fake news start on social media and end there, there
is no effect on the entire government operation”
Some of the responses in the last category include:
“No idea”
“I don’t have anything to say about that”
“relationship between Fake and government? Undecided”
“Nothing to say”
“I have no idea”
The Figure 8 above presents result from the quest of the study to find out what the
respondent think is the extent to which fake news affect democracy. The result
shows that 28% of the respondents believe fake news cripples freedom of
expression of others, 41% of the respondents believe fake news create unnecessary
35
tension in the polity, 12% of the respondents believe fake news propels
disinformation and misinformation which can create public chaos, 7% of the
respondents suggest fake news lead to so much censorship over the media while
12% suggest all of the above (Table 5).
36
Figure 8: To what extent does fake news affect democracy? Source: Field Survey,
2019.
Table 5: Do you think democracy will thrive well in the era of fake news?
1 Yes 22 36.70%
2 No 27 45%
3 Undecided 11 18.30%
Total 60 100.00%
Table 5 present result from the quest of the study to find out if democracy can
thrive well in the era of fake news. The result shows 36.7% of the respondents
agreed that democracy will thrive well in the era of fake news, 45% of the
respondents disagreed that democracy can thrive well in the era of fake news.
There are 18.3% of the respondents who remain undecided. This means that
majority of the respondents recognizes the threat of fake news to democracy and
thus suggest that democracy cannot thrive well if fake news continue to spread
without control (Figure 9).
37
Figure 9: How often do you keep your sources confidential? Source: Field Survey,
2019.
Figure 9 presents result from the quest of the study to find out, how often the
respondents keep their sources of information in confidence. The result shows that
23% of the respondents keep their sources of information confidential most often,
27% of the respondents often keep sources confidential, 32% rarely keep their
sources of information in confidence while18% of the respondents very rare. This
means that 50% of the respondents frequently hide their sources of information
while 50% rarely keep sources in confidence.
Identify methods that can be used to curtail the spread of fake news without
restricting freedom of expression?
In this section, the study asked an opened-ended question which sought to gather
recommendation towards curtailing the spread of fake news without restricting the
freedom of expression. There were little suggestions in this respect. The study
collected only 10 responses as follows:
38
“There should be social media censorship”
“Awareness should be created so as to enlighten people who use the social media
to avoid spreading unverified information”
“Social media should propose ways of reducing post of unverified information”
“I want other social media to copy from twitter in restricting number of text you
can post and identification of a verified account”
“Authorities should propose laws that will frighten against spreading fake
information without clamping on people’s right to express their views”
“through censorship of the social media”
“there should be control on how to register and operate social media handle”
“everybody deserve freedom but nobody has freedom to harm others, anybody that
spread information that harm others should be prosecuted so that it will serve as
lesson to others”
“Nigeria Press Council and National Broadcasting Commission should come in as

instruments of control and there will be professional censorship without tampering
the freedom of expression”
“government should vamp up it communication machineries to counter the spread

of fake news”
39
Chapter Five
Summary Conclusion and Recommendation
Discussion of Findings
Fake news has been a topic of discourse in Nigeria over the years. The discourse
has been taking shapes but it is now hotter than it has ever been. This is not
unconnected with the fact that it has become more glaring and fast spreading as it
is being propelled by social media and even the conventional media. It is also
propelled by the elections period as well as numbers of crises in the rounds and
corners of the country. It is on these bases that this study was proposed. The study
was conducted to address some few research questions. The following are the
findings of the study discussed based on the research questions of the study.
What is rate of the spread of fake news among Nigerians on both social and
conventional media?
In order to find out the rate at which fake news spread, the study sought to find out
the awareness of the respondents about the concept of fake news. The study found
that the majority of the respondents are aware of fake news and thus establish
ground for the suitability of the respondents to the study. The study further quest
into the media that spread fake news faster and found that social media is the major
carrier of fake news while conventional media record least number of fake news.
This was obtained from the number of respondents who suggest that they come in
contact with fake news mostly on social media than the conventional media.
While measuring the frequency of the spread of fake news, the study found that 7%
of the respondent who are active on social media come in contact with fake news
in every minute, 20% suggest that they see fake news every hour, 15% come in
contact with fake news week on the media they suggest in the previous chart while
only 8% suggested that they see fake news in every month. This can be attributed
to the fact that the social media which provides free access to users propels the
frequency of spread of fake news more than any other media of communication. In
connection with this finding, study also found that majority of the respondents
contributes in the information sharing system of media cycle. This is because
majority of the respondents engage in sharing information their social media
platforms. It also suggests that respondents play role in either fuelling or
controlling the spread of fake news on the media they use.
40
The study found that that despite the awareness of fake news among the
respondents, there is limited alertness with regard to sensitivity of verifying
information before sharing. This further establish that majority of users on social
media do not find time to verify information before sharing. It was found that lack
of awareness on what spread of unverified information may cause is a major factor
in the spread of fake news on social media platforms. This study puts that the users
on social media are not aware of the dangers of their actions on such platforms.
The study also found that politics and crisis suffer more fake news than any other
nature. This is why social media become very congested with so much unverified
information and fake news during political or elections period. Not just political
period but also when crisis spurs in various angles. Fake news becomes subject of
discourse because they fuel either of the political tension or crisis margin.
Do media audience have perception on fake news and abuse of freedom of

expression?
The study found that the respondents who are selected media audience have
perceptions towards fake news and it’s relationship with abuse of freedom of
expression. The result contained in chart 4 shows the perception of the respondents
regarding fake news. 36% of the respondents perceive fake news as dangerous,
27% of the respondents perceive fake news as safe which has no danger, 15% of
the respondents perceive and believed that fake news fuels crisis, 7% of the
respondents perceive fake news as something that create or increase tension, 3%
perceive fake news as normal and it does none of the above while 12% of the
respondents perceive fake news as critical and its best explained by all of the
The study measures how the respondents perceive the fake news as abuse of
freedom of expression. It was found that 36.7% of the respondent perceive spread
of fake news as abuse of freedom of expression, 45% of the respondents perceive
spread of fake news not as abuse of freedom of expression while 18.3% of the
respondents remain undecided. The result indicated that the reason why fake news
is still spread is because the social media users do not believe spreading such
information is an abuse of freedom they enjoy on such platforms.
What are the perceptions?
On the perception of the respondents on why social media users spread fake news,
the study found that 28% of the respondent suggest that ignorance of fake news
41
and what it may cause is the major reason people share fake news, 41% of the
respondents attributed the spread of fake news to political ambition of some
people, 12% of the respondents perceive that people spread fake news to attack
personalities of others, 7% of the respondent perceive the reason for the spread of
fake news to self satisfaction while 12% of the respondents attributed it to all of the
above perceptions.
The finding of the study also 36% of the respondents perceive fake news as
dangerous, 27% of the respondents perceive fake news as safe which has no
danger, 15% of the respondents perceive and believed that fake news fuels crisis,
7% of the respondents perceive fake news as something that create or increase
tension, 3% perceive fake news as normal and it does none of the above while 12%
of the respondents perceive fake news as critical and its best explained by all of the
What is the effect of fake news on Nigeria’s democracy?
The study found that the respondents know that the spread of fake news has effect
on democratic system of government. The result indicated that 27(45%) of the
respondents suggested that spreading fake news has effect on smooth operation of
democracy while 33(55%) declared that spread of fake news has no effect on
democratic system of government. Based on this, it was found that there is gross
misunderstanding or underestimation of what fake news can cause in a society that
practice democracy. This is also another reason why spread of fake news is on
increase.
In this direction, the study collected qualitative data and its analysis shows that the
category of respondents who supported the fact that spread of fake news has effect
on democracy suggest that it affects decision making, democracy thrive well with
peace and reliable and vibrant communication system, heating politics, create and
fuel crisis, tamper with the trust of the people have in the media. The study found
that the respondents who disagree suggested that fake news does not have any
impact on government. Some of them thought fake news is a fun thing on social
media that does not go beyond that while others disregards any relationship it may
have with government.
42
Conclusion
• Awareness should be created so as to enlighten people who use the social media
to avoid spreading unverified information
• Social media should propose ways of reducing post of unverified information
• Other social media platforms should copy from Twitter in restricting number of
text user can post and identification of a verified account
• Authorities should propose laws that will frighten against spreading fake
information without clamping on people’s right to express their views
• There should be control on how to register and operate social media handles
• There should be adequate prosecution for anybody that spread information that
harm others so that it will serve as lesson to others
• Nigeria Press Council and National Broadcasting Commission should come in as

instruments of control and there will be professional censorship without tampering
the freedom of expression
• Government should vamp up it communication machineries to counter the spread

of fake news.
43
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45
Fake News in Nigeria: Causes, Effects and Management
Abstract
This study examined the impact of Fake News in Nigeria: Causes, Effects and its
Management in Nigeria and the world at large. Fake news in a layman
understanding is said to be information fabricated without a source or element of
originality. Most time, it creates tension, killings and pandemonium which are not
good for the peace and unity of Nigeria and the world at large. The source of
information for this study came from secondary source. From the study, we
observed that the major causes of fake news are; quest for relevance, hostile
government and civil actors, poor regularization / of the internet and money
making. The effect of it has been so bad most especially now Nigeria is facing
different intra crises like Fulani-Herdsmen and Farmers, Militancy, and so on
which goes a long way to create tension, killings and pandemonium just like stated
above. As a result of the above, we recommend the following: There is need to
always confirm the source of information (social media accounts often try to
appear as if they are from legitimate news sites), check different sources to confirm
the authentication of the information you are reading. There is need to always
penalize those blogs or media outlets that post fake news no matter the
circumstance. By so doing, it will serve as deterrent to others using it as a way to
gain relevance or for whatever reason.
Fake News in Nigeria: Causes, Effects and Management
Keywords: Fake News, Causes, Effects, Management, Nigeria
1. Introduction
46
Chapter Three
Methodology
This study which centered on Fake News in Nigeria: Causes, Effects and its
Management relied on secondary source of data collection. The research design
used in this work was documentary.
Secondary sources of data collection are published and unpublished materials,

books and Newspapers relevant to this study.
47
Chapter Four
Data Analysis and Presentation
6. Findings
It was discovered that in Nigeria and the world at large, most people don’t always
confirm the source of information before believing and sharing the information
which most times turn out to be fake. It was discovered that fake news generated
online and offline most times are to create traffic and relevance.
It was also discovered that there is a lacuna between the government and media
(Online and Offline) in areas of monitoring and supervision as a result of that bad
elements uses that to cause tension.
We also found out that there is no full press freedom and journalistic integrity
which goes a long way to create room for fabrication of fake news.
48
Chapter Five
Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation
7. Recommendations
There is need to always confirm the source of information (social media accounts
often try to appear as if they are from legitimate news sites), check different
sources to confirm the authentication of the information you are reading. Also,
engage different verification tools online like Tin Eye, Google and Bing which can
tell what you need to know about information you came across. Again, there is
need to engage Metadata (a tool); it will tell you where and when an image or
video was captured to avoid confusion in the case of fake news. After that, then
think before you post/share is very important.
There is need to always penalize those blogs or media outlets that post fake news
no matter the circumstance. By so doing, it will serve as a deterrent to others using
it as a way to gain relevance or with other reasons too.
There is need for the government to work with the media and invest also to avoid
creating room for fake news. Also, the government should give room for full press
freedom and journalistic integrity in Nigeria and the world at large.
8. Conclusion
In summary, we can say that fake news is not peculiar to Nigeria alone, it is a
global problem which has done more harm than good in our society. We are of the
opinion that the government at all levels should work aggressively and assiduously
with the media towards ensuring that the rate at which fake news grow are
minimized to an insignificant level to avoid further tensions, killings and so on.
The government should do more on media literacy and promote some reliable
media outlets the people can always fall back on for information. If all these
mentioned above can be achieved then the world will be a better place.
References
Adekunle (2018). Fake news aggravating herders/farmers crises in Nigeria-BBC.

Vanguardngr.com, [Online]
49
Available: https:// www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2018/06/fake-
news-aggravating-herders-farmers-crises-nigeria-bbc (June 30th , 2018)
Adeleke, I. D. (2016). Nigeria has always had a fake news problem, but why have
we decided not to talk about it?. Ventureafrica.com, [Online] Available:
https://www.google.com/amp/venturesafrica.com/nigeria-fake-news-problem/amp
(December 17, 2016).
Elebeke E. (2018). Federal Government launches campaign against fake news.

Vanguard[Online]Available:https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanguardngrco
m/2018/07/fg-launches-campaign-against-fake-news/amp/ (July 12, 2018).
Okogba, E. (2018). 2019 polls: BBC raises concerns over fake news. Vanguardngr,
[Online]Available:https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanguardngr.com/
2018/07/2019- polls-bbc-raises-concerns-fake-news/amp/ (July 2nd, 2018)
Wikipedia(n.d).Fakenews.Available:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/
fake_newsHYPERLINK"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/fake_news%26hl-en-
NG"&HYPERLINK"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/fake_news%26hl-en-
NG"hlHYPERLINK"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/fake_news%26hl-en-NG"-
HYPERLINK"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/fake_news%26hl-en-
NG"enHYPERLINK "https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/fake_news%26hl-en-NG"-
HYPERLINK"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/fake_news%26hl-en-
NG"NGHYPERLINK"https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/fake_news%26hl-en-NG".
Accessed Date: 25/7/2018.
Fake news aggravating herders/farmers crises in Nigeria-BBC. Vanguardngr.com

Jun 2018
Adekunle (2018). Fake news aggravating herders/farmers crises in Nigeria-BBC.

Vanguardngr.com, [Online] Available: https://
www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2018/06/fake-news-aggravating-
herdersfarmers-crises-nigeria-bbc (June 30th, 2018)
Nigeria has always had a fake news problem, but why have we decided not to talk
about it
50
Adeleke, I. D. (2016). Nigeria has always had a fake news problem, but why have
we decided not to talk about it?. Ventureafrica.com, [Online] Available:
https://www.google.com/amp/venturesafrica.com/nigeria-fakenews-problem/amp
(December 17, 2016).
Federal Government launches campaign against fake news
Elebeke E. (2018). Federal Government launches campaign against fake news.

Vanguard [Online] Available:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanguardngrcom/2018/07/fg-launches-
campaign-against-fake-news/amp/ (July 12, 2018).
Recommendations
DDDDDDDDDDDD
The Impact of Fake News and the Emerging Post-Truth Political Era on Nigerian
Polity: A Review of Literature
Abstract
Since the rising to notoriety of the present „genre‟ of malicious content peddled as
„fake news‟ (mostly over social media) in 2016 during the United States‟
presidential election, barely three years until Nigeria‟s 2019 general elections, fake
news has made dangerously damaging impacts on the Nigerian society socially,
politically and economically. Notably, the escalating herder-farmer communal
clashes in the northern parts of the country, ethno-religious crises in Taraba,
Plateau and Benue states and the furiously burning fire of the thug-of-war between
the ruling party (All Progressives Congress, APC) and the opposition, particularly
the main opposition party (People‟s Democratic Party,
PDP) have all been attributed to fake news, untruth and political propaganda. This
paper aims to provide further understanding about the evolving issues regarding
fake news and its demonic impact on the Nigerian polity. To make that
contribution toward building the literature, extant literature and verifiable online
news content on fake news and its attributes were critically reviewed. This paper
concludes that fake news and its associated notion of post-truth may continue to
pose threat to the Nigerian polity unless strong measures are taken. For the effects
51
of fake news and post-truth phenomena to be suppressed substantially, a tripartite
participation involving these key stakeholders
–
the government, legislators and the public should be modelled and implemented to
the letter.
Keywords:
democracy in Nigeria, disinformation, fake news, fake news in Nigeria, Nigerian

politics, post-truth political era in Nigeria
1. Introduction
1.1 An Overview of Fake News Issues in Nigeria
Nigeria is a country in tension characterized by security threats in different parts of

the country. These threats are manifested in forms of multiple conflicts, systemic
and widespread corruption, debilitating poverty, weak institutions, threats of
secession as well as perceived marginalization, anger, hatred and economic
challenges in a time when preference for untrue information is rising i.e., post-
truth era (Harsin, 2018; Pate, 2018 September 7). These issues are offensively,
progressively and relentlessly destroying relationships, heightening animosities
across communities and threatening democratic survival in the country (Pate, 2018
September 7). Arguably, all of that are facilitated by the revolution in information
and communication technologies (ICT) that have democratized and simplified
access and dissemination of information across space and time (Ibrahim & Adamu,
2016; Pate & Idris, 2017). Cited in Premium Times
Nigeria, Professor Umaru Pate, the Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies, Bayero
University, Kano (BUK) explained that like many other countries, Nigeria, too, is
battling with the rise in populism politics, youth radicalisation, extremism,
terrorism, drug and human trafficking, ethnic nationalism, hate and dangerous
speech, fake news and the rewriting of the country’s history, among others. Indeed, these
are critical times for the media and the country. The political climate in the country
has changed rapidly in recent years, signaling innovative developments and strange
challenges in the country’s democratic system. By and large, the current political
52
culture in the country is inextricably linked to the growing development of
information and communication technologies (ICT) (Audu, 2018 September 9;
Pate, 2018 September 7). Cited in Vanguard , Professor Danjuma Gambo, the Dean,
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Maiduguri who is also the Director,
Public Relations of the university agrees with Professor Pate that fake news can
mislead the public and cause tension in an already tense political climate with
communal and reprisal attacks here and there in addition to the Boko Haram
conflict. He stressed that if the media would cultivate the culture of verifying
information and fact checking (if necessary) before going to press, the spread of
fake news can be contained (Marama, 2017 August 10). This has severally affected
the delivery and form of political communication and the communication of
political ideas in our democratic system, as well as shifted and undermined the
accountability for those messages. For instance, what was labeled, yellow
journalism‟ and, character assassination/slander‟ have metamorphosed into what is
today known as, fake news and fraudulent news, these are terms that sound big and
portend devastating effects in the society. These terms are fuelled and spread by
the power of modern technology (Wasserman & Madrid-Morales, 2018; Agbese,
2017 December 31). In the words of Egan (2018, December 11, online), “online,
lies and truth look the same. This has been a boon for professional liars, (who) use
these platforms to market falsehood; as vehicles for personal fame, or, as a way to
spread propaganda”. These have raised concerns that Nigerians are constantly and
increasingly accessing inaccurate and/or misleading content without verification
(gatekeeping) or verifiable attribution (Agbese, 2017; Hankey, Marrison, & Naik,
2018).
Fundamentally, the breed of “yellow journalism‟, “fabricated or manipulated stories‟

“fraudulent content‟ and “character assassination‟ and “fake news‟ are largely new
technology-dependent (e.g., social media platforms and the internet) rather than
traditional technologies such as radio, TV, newspaper or magazine (Okoro, Abara,
Umagba, Ajonye, & Isa, 2018; Wasserman & Madrid-Morales, 2018 November
21). Thus, while we grapple with what modern technology has enabled us to do,
“we also face a new wave of change, which we have only started to understand the
ramifications of” (Hankey et al., 2018, p. 6). For example, the concerns around
recent, or newer technologies such as artificial intelligence‟ and „machine
learning‟ show that any regulatory response to stem fake news peddled via new
53
technologies, whether by state actors or technology developers, need to be as
“dynamic as the technological mischief it seeks to contain” (Hankey et al., 2018, p.
6). The critical question is: how can politics aid regulations to spur the
development and sustainability of our democratic system while preserving its
legitimacy to embrace internet-based and social media platforms in the context of
promoting the integrity and values of the democratic process in a multicultural
Nigeria? This paper focuses on the trend of fake news and the emerging post-truth
political era and their potential impacts on the Nigerian polity. Recommendations
for mitigating the negative effects of fake news and post-truth political
circumstances in the society are offered at the concluding sections.
54

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A STUDY OF FAKE NEWS IN SOCIAL MEDIA IN NIGERIA (A CASE

STUDY OF ADAMAWA STATE POLYTECHNIC YOLA AS AN

Zulaihat Salihu Danumma

1.1 Background of the Study

In today’s contemporary society, social media has become a common and

The spread of fake news could either be politically motivated or economically

There is no doubt that the advent of social media as a veritable means of

1.2 Statement of the Problem

One of the fundamental tenets of democracy is freedom of expression and speech.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

1.4 Research Questions

• What are the perceptions?

• What is the effect of fake news on students’ well-being in Adamawa state

1.5 Scope of the Study

The scope of this study is limited to Adamawa state polytechnic Yola.The

1.6 Significance and Justification of the Study

Disinformation: Is false information spread deliberately to deceive.

Menace: Is something that is likely to cause harm.

National Policy: A broad course of action or statements of guidance adopted by

Fact-Checking: It is the process of attempting to verify or disprove assertions

Transparency: Is government’s obligation to share information with citizens that

Hoax: A hoax is a falsehood deliberately fabricated to masquerade as the truth.

Smartphone: A mobile telephone with computer features that may enable it to

Falsehood: A falsehood is a statement that distorts or suppresses the truth, in order

2.1 Fake news

Furthermore, as regards to fake news the Federal Government in Abuja launched a

2.3. Effects of Fake News in Nigeria

Fake news aggravates herders/farmers crises in Nigeria: The British Broadcasting

2.4 Understanding Fake News

A good introduction answers these questions in just a few pages and, by

Brian Hughes, a professor of media studies at Queens College, City University of

2.6 Why Fake News Spreads Fast?

3) Availability of cheap data services is facilitating explosive use of social media

4) Sensationalized fake news is disseminated for economic reasons, especially on

5) Desperate politicians, ethnic and religious jingoists, foreign interests and

2.7 Freedom of expression, social media and fake news

In contemporary media landscape, journalists, communications experts and others

2.8 Misinformation, disinformation and malinformation

Buckland [3] added that, depending on the context, information is a thing, a

On the other hand, mal-information is seen to be information that is premised on

Misinformation, disinformation and mal-information are raw materials that form

2.9 Theoretical Framework

Elaboration likelihood model

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) is a persuasion-based theory which

Theory of Rumor Transmission

• Anxiety: reflects the negative emotional state of a rumor sender.

• Source ambiguity: reflects whether a rumor sender understands the origin of a

• Personal involvement: represents the importance of a rumor to the sender.

• Directed message: Oh et al. added directed message as a new variable arguing

Justifications of the Theories

According to the source credibility theory, trustworthiness, expertise and

Survey research has several advantages or strengths compared to other research

Questionnaire has been adopted as tool for data collection. Questionnaire is a

Data Analysis and interpretation

Table 1: Do you know fake news?

S/N Response Frequency Percentage

Source: Field Survey, 2019.

Table 2: Do you share information?

S/N Response Frequency Percentage

Table 3: Do you verify information before sharing?