Fake News: The Digital Wildfires

As political campaigns gather momentum ahead of the 2019 general elections, mainstream and social media platforms have become awash with both reliable and unreliable information. Yet a ‘digital wildfire’ which is a false rumour that goes viral in online space, can be dangerous in a religiously and ethnically segmented society such as Nigeria.

Fake news is a gross violation of the laws which criminalize libel and scandal. For many Nigerians, the sharing of news is socially validating especially on such platforms as WhatsApp and Facebook where everyday news is debated, amplified and consumed most times uncritically.

Following these backdrops, this edition of Nextier SPD Weekly examines the phenomenon of fake news and makes recommendations on how they can be redressed. …

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