Understanding the effects of social media-channelled fake news on conflicts in Nigeria: Case of Farmers/Herders conflicts in the Benue State

Abstract

Fake news has over the years, become a tool for propagating hate speech in societies. Fake news is a potent weapon for deepening ethnic and religious differences especially in multi-ethnic and multi-religious countries like Nigeria. This study was therefore conducted to understand the effects of fake news shared via social media on the way conflicts are shaped in Nigeria. The study focused on the farmers/herders conflicts in Benue State, Northcentral Nigeria. A qualitative research was conducted with five interviews and 100 questionnaires administered to gather the primary data. This was augmented with secondary data from relevant literatures and research works.

Key findings from this study indicated that politics, ethnicity and religious biases were usually responsible for fake news in Nigeria. Also, the study revealed that many respondents do understand the dangers associated with not verifying social media stories. In terms of its effects on conflicts in Nigeria, they identified its potential to cause war, trigger conflicts, create chaos, incite communal clashes, and incite reprisal attacks among other things. The study equally established the impact of fake news on farmers/herders conflicts in Benue State. To this end, it was revealed that social media channelled fake news indeed aggravated the farmers/herders conflict in recent times. Fake news circulated on social media helped to incite baseless attacks and reprisals by the belligerents in Benue State. This is simply because most news gotten from social media on the conflicts are rarely verified.

The study therefore recommended that, the Federal Government of Nigeria engages social media companies, and other stakeholders to check circulation of fake news. The National Assembly should institute policies to guide the use of social media while the Federal Ministry of Justice enacts a law to prosecute fake news. The National Orientation Agency should sensitize the public on their civic duties in curbing the spread of fake news. Lastly, the academia should research further into the subject.