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07030248044ABSTRACT
This research examined the impact of social media fake news on Nigerian youths (a study of 2020- 2023). The survey research was used in this study to sample the opinion of respondents. This method involved random selection of respondents who were administered with questionnaires. Relevant conceptual, theoretical and empirical literature was reviewed. The target population of the study comprised youths in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. The questionnaire administered was three hundred and ten (310) copies and three hundred copies (300) retrieved which constitute the sample size. The descriptive and analytical approach was adopted using Chi-square to test and analyze the hypotheses earlier stated. The result revealed that there is a significant impact of social media fake news on Nigerian youths. The finding of the study also reveals that fakes news from the social media leads to insurgencies and conflicts among people in Nigeria. The findings of the study also revealed that fake news in social media mislead youths during the political duration to vote and support the wrong person. The findings of the study further reveal that lack of effective regulation and oversight in the use of social media is one of the factors that contributes to fake news in social media in Nigeria. The finding of the study also reveals that high youth unemployment rates is one of the factors that contributes to fake news in social media in Nigeria. The findings of the study reveal that there is a significant positive relationship between social media fake news and lifestyles of youths in Nigeria. It was therefore concluded that social media fake news significantly has impact on Nigerian youths. It was suggested that social media users should be wary of how they spread unverified news stories online especially on Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Blogs, etc
CHAPTER ONE
INRRODUCTION
Globally, including in Nigeria, there has been a discernible upsurge in violent extremism both offline and online (Woodhams, 2016). When it comes to online hate speech, the emergence of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, and others has created new issues (Gagliardone et al., 2015; Silva et al., 2016). Numerous human rights organisations and activists have voiced their discontent with the ongoing dissemination of various types of prejudice through social media platforms (Simon Wiesenthal Centre, 2012). According to Bartlett and Reynolds (2015), violent extremists may now effectively further their objectives by using social media platforms. They employ extreme messaging in the media to sway young people in order to spread their harmful ideology and attract new members(vanGinkel, 2015).
According to Gerstenfeld, Grant, and Chiang (2003), social media is used by those who spread extremism. Research indicates that hate speech occurs more often online on social media platforms (Mondal, Silva, & Benevenuto, 2017). False information, which frequently spreads via social media, has the potential to deceive people even more and exacerbate systemic tensions already in place (Pan, Lu, Wang & Chau, 2017). Therefore, the threats posed by hate speech, fake news, and extremism should worry society.
Given the present focus on social media's involvement in the spread of false information concerning current political and social issues, it's critical to comprehend how users engage with misinformation on social media networks (SNS). On social media, fake news regarding contemporary political or social topics spreads incredibly quickly (Mehrdad & Anna, 2017). Whether on purpose or not, these hoaxes and bogus tales mislead or confuse viewers. These stories are typically written with the intention of confusing readers, influencing people's opinions, or advancing political agendas. Online publishers may earn greatly from these narratives (Brennen, 2017). Since the sources of fake news items sometimes use names and web addresses that are similar to respectable news organisations, they have the potential to mislead consumers. While accidental creation of fake news can occur occasionally, it may also mislead and confuse viewers(Corner, 2017). According to Allcott and Gentzkow (2017), a lot of individuals get their news and information about current political and social issues via social media platforms and networks. However, it's not always easy to determine which news sources are reliable. The proliferation of false news and hoax tales has also been attributed to information overload and a general lack of knowledge of how the internet operates. Users and social media platforms may both significantly contribute to the greater dissemination of these kinds of tales (Spohr, 2017). But some users—both as individuals and as groups—are taking action to stop the spread of false information on social media.This study focuses on these populations and their behaviours in order to create a more thorough framework for users to recognise and counteract false information.
Social media giants like Google and Facebook have unveiled new tools for reporting and identifying false news as part of their efforts to combat it. A number of media outlets, including the BBC and Channel 4, have also set up fact-checking websites. Although these are encouraging advancements, anyone using the internet must possess the critical thinking and digital media literacy abilities to assess content (Mihailidis&Viotty, 2017). Critical thinking is essential, as evidenced by the abundance of information available online and the growth of fake political news (Burkhardt, 2017). Examining users' actions of verification to identify and prevent false information on social media is therefore vital. It is possible to gather helpful insights on how people could act online in order to combat false news on social media by observing how they engage with and detect bogus stories.
The social media trend is fueling the enormous spread of false news, which calls for research and action. Although fake news is not a recent occurrence, it has drawn a lot of attention recently due to the widespread use of social media for communication and the spread of ideas and news. Social media is the "lifeblood of fake news" because it makes it inexpensive for anybody to spread a viral false narrative to a large audience (Warner-Søderholm et al., 2018). "The widespread use of social media and the effortless dissemination of information that social media platforms enable owing to their technological advantages are the main foci of the concern regarding the proliferation of fake news," according to Allcott & Gentzkow (2017). The speed at which news content moves on social media platforms encourages the spread of problematic news content and allows it to circulate in a bewildering way (Quandt, 2019). Fake news spreads quickly and without verification, making it difficult to correct (Lazer et al., 2017). As a result, there is worry worldwide about the spread of fake news.Fake news propagation is a global issue, yet it is frequently influenced by regional problems and contextual factors. People's motivations for sharing news—or fake news—may stem from cultural characteristics that the motive typology derived from the great bulk of Western-centric research does not always account for. The effects of false information propagating throughout society might differ greatly from community to community.Given the local nature of this global issue, it is critical to look at the spread of fake news on a smaller scale. In order to give a microanalysis of the causes and motives behind the dissemination of false news in Nigeria as well as the effects on the general public, we examine previous research on the topic in this study.
The influence of fake news on democracy has drawn the attention of researchers (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). Fake news really has a lot of negative consequences, according to earlier research. According to Vargo et al. (2018), false news exacerbates societal divisions that already exist. According to Sadiku (2018), for example, in June 2018, the Miyetti Allah group in Nigeria carried out a grisly murder of over 86 persons in 11 communities in Barkin Ladi, Rirom, and Jos South Local Government areas. The murders were publicised on social media as a form of vengeance.A recent analysis, however, showed that the murders were unrelated to the Miyetti Allah organisation. By then, more people had died in Nigeria's Plateau state as a result of the dissemination of false information linked to the murders. Comparable US study revealed that there was a claimed US "Pizza Gate conspiracy theory" that was released party During the US Presidential campaign, emails from the Democratic National Party were leaked and circulated online. This raised concerns that the emails, which focused on the family of a pizza restaurant in the Washington, DC, may have mentioned paedophilia and human trafficking in passing, but there was no concrete evidence to support these claims (Barthel et al., 2016). According to Barthel et al. (2016), this false information sparked threats, harassment, and even a shooting at a pizza parlour by regular people. Research indicates that during the US 2016 elections, false information was disseminated claiming Pope Francis had backed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, which is consistent with this conclusion. This tricked millions of readers worldwide and sent Americans into a state of turmoil and fear (Tandoc et al. 2018). Similarly, in 2016, a bogus article that claimed Israel had threatened Pakistan with nuclear weapons appeared online and caused a great deal of uncertainty(Goldman, 2016).
In a another instance, a Facebook photo that a refugee in Germany had uploaded was utilised, even though the person had no connection to the events, in many false news articles accusing refugees of being terrorists (Torres et al., 2018). These results show how false news affects society as a whole everywhere. Even while false news is becoming more and more prevalent worldwide, little research has been done on how it affects developing nations.According to Duffy et al. (2019), the majority of studies on fake news have come from the US and UK, and they advised researchers to expand their search. In order to offer a different perspective on this worldwide issue, we have specifically chosen to focus on Nigeria in this papera developing nation that has received less attention than others (Wasserman & Madrid-Morales, 2019).It is based on this background that the present study seeks ascertain the impact of social media fake news on Nigerian youths; a study of 2020- 2023.
Global communication and information sharing have undergone a transformation since the introduction of social media platforms. However, social media has drawbacks in addition to advantages, chief among them being the spread of false information and fake news. Misuse of social media to promote hate speech, violent extremism, and fake news foreshadows dire threats to civilization. It appears that hate speech, extremism, and false news have all played a role in a number of societal unrests.According to a number of academics (Gagliadone 2019), hate speech and false news are key contributors to violent outbursts in society. Maybe this is the reason Obayi, Okalla, Anele, and Uzoechi (2020) point out that hate speech is unacceptable on its own and shouldn't be tolerated by anybody.
Furthermore, young people in Nigeria are seriously at danger due to the widespread spread of false information on social media sites. As frequent users, individuals are constantly exposed to a deluge of misleading information, which has an impact on their views, actions, and general wellbeing. The unrestrained dissemination of false information and its possible repercussions are the root of the issue. It's important to recognise the effects of false news on young people in Nigeria, where a varied population massively uses social media.
Furthermore, during the pandemic crisis, it was noted that con artists were using social media to trick the gullible citizens of Nigeria. This occurs when word spreads through various social media platforms that the Federal Government of Nigeria intended to credit each person's account with a token as a palliative measure to help them lessen the hardship and challenges that may result from the recently announced stay-at-home order. Some people trade their account data on social media with this information, leading to eventual fraud. This occurs when people eagerly share information on social media without first making sure that the sources are reliable, accurate, and real.According to Howell (2013), the dissemination of false information has been recognised as a worldwide issue. Many people are unaware that the information they offer serves merely to further the nefarious activities of scammers. Against this backdrop, the study examines the impact of social media fake news on Nigerian youths.
The main objective of this study was to ascertain the impact of social media fake news on Nigerian youths (a study of 2020- 2023). Specific objectives of the study include;
The following questions guided this study;
The following were hypothesized;
Hypothesis One
H1: There is a significant impact of social media fake news on Nigerian youths.
Hypothesis Two
H0: There is no significant positive relationship between social media fake news and Lifestyles of youths in Nigeria.
H1: There is a significant positive relationship between social media fake news and Lifestyles of youths in Nigeria
Understanding the impact of social media fake news on Nigerian youths is essential for safeguarding national unity, promoting critical thinking, and fostering responsible media consumption. Addressing this problem requires collaborative efforts from educators, policymakers, and social media platforms.
This study will address this gap by using a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative content analysis and qualitative discourse analysis, to examine the main themes, narratives, discourses, and representations of fake news among youths on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The study will also explore the effects of these social media frames on the perceptions and behaviors of public servants and other stakeholders, such as policy makers, service providers, media professionals, civil society organizations, and the general public.
The findings of this study will have significant implications for information and communication research, policy, and practice. The study will provide valuable insights into the role of social media in shaping and challenging the dissemination of fake news among youths, and the potential of social media to promote positive and transformative change on trustful and adequate information.
The study will also offer practical recommendations and guidelines for using social media to raise awareness, educate, advocate, and mobilize action on fake news among public servants and other actors. The study will also identify the challenges and limitations of social media as a tool for fake news prevention and response, and suggest ways to overcome them.
This study is limited to the impact of social media fake news on Nigerian youths (a study of 2020- 2023). Participants from this study was recruited from Ogun State, Nigeria and their age ranges from 18 to 35 years.
Social media: Social media refers to new forms of media that involve interactive participation. Social media are defined simply by their ability to bring people together has been seen as too broad, as this would suggest that fundamentally different technologies like the telegraph and telephone are also social media.
Fake news: Fake news as information that has been deliberately fabricated and disseminated with the intention to deceive and mislead others into believing falsehoods or doubting verifiable facts.
Youths: Youth refers to the time between childhood and adulthood (maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult.
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