Abstract

Fake news with local and global dimensions is everywhere. Africans are targeted by blatant lies, hoaxes, conspiracies, and misinformation being peddled as news on legitimate sites. It can be mixed with truth to create controversy, which in the digital era can be spread wide with immeasurable consequences. Journalism appears to be in an existential crisis stoked by a continuously evolving ecology, complicated or enhanced, depending on the argument, by the dynamics of digital technology and communication. This character of the media ecology has had collateral consequences, with the focus on the subject of fake news trending in discourse and contestations in the public sphere, terrestrial or virtual. Within this context, the paper examines the paradox inherent in the use of, and expectations from, digital media interactions as evident in the growing spate of fake news and its consequence in democratic societies. The objectives of the study are: to examine digital media and fake news in Nigeria by analysing sources and proliferators, to ascertain the proliferation of fake news on social media and its effect on society, and to interrogate digital media literacy, fake news and Nigerian democracy. This paper adopts Social Constructivism Theory and Disruptive Innovation (Technology) Theory. The paper concludes that fake news in this digital age portends a great danger to any country as well as democratic system. Thus, the ongoing campaign against fake news in Nigeria is worthy of concerted attention of stakeholders in politics, in the interest of political stability and growth of democracy. In this technological era, digital media has created linkages for fake news to circulate among social media users.

Key Words: Danger, Consequence, Democratic Societies, Digital Media, Fake News

About the Authors                                                                       

*   Aondover Eric Msughter is of the Department of Mass Communication, Caleb University, Imota, Lagos, Nigeria. His areas of research interest include: Media and Conflict, Political Communication, Digital Media, Media and Society, Media and Gender, Development Communication, and Media Literacy.

** Eserinune McCarty Mojaye, Ph.D., ORCID: 0000-0002-9571-7201, is a Professor of Mass Communication and Director, Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for African Studies, (OOCAS), National Open University of Nigeria, Jabi, Abuja, Nigeria.

*** Lawal Umar Maradun was a Principal Lecturer and Head of Department of Mass Communication at Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, Zamfara State, Nigeria, before his appointment as the Principal Private Secretary to the Executive Governor of Zamfara State, Nigeria. He is a doctoral student of Mass Communication at Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria. His research interests are Public Relations, Social Media, Media Literacy, and Political Communication.

^JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 15, No. 1, Special Issue 3, July 2023, pp. 32-40

© Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigeria (AMCRON).

Article Citation

Msughter, A. E., Mojaye, E. M. & Maradun, L. U. (2023). Digital media: The danger and consequence of fake news in democratic societies. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 15 (1, SP.3): 32-40.

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