SOCIAL MEDIA MISINFORMATION AND THE SPREAD OF FAKE NEWS ON THE OUTBREAK OF COVTD-19 IN NIGERIA

Misinformation and fake news on the social media are fundamental media issues of our contemporary. No doubt, social media has played and is still playing a ‘£ * tremendous role in disseminating fake news and thereby misinforming and creating confusion and tension of colossal magnitude among the general public. Through the social media, fake news spread far and wide and across national boundaries, leaving millions of people at its peril. Hence, this paper seeks to look at the chief factors that aid in the spread of fake news in Nigeria by the social media especially during the outbreak of the dreaded and deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Secondary sources were used as a method of the study. It further reviews literature related to the study from different scholars and researchers where it establishes that social media (Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter) are the major vehicles of fake news in Nigeria. The paper concludes that the profession of journalism is fast losing its integrity to the increasing spread of fake news and misinformation on the social media. Amongst others, the paper recommends that the government should establish traditional and social media monitoring operations to build hard data-based records , of incidents and profile perpetrators as this will check the rising spread of fake news through the social media.