Open AccessSocial media and the spread of COVID-19 conspiracy theories in Nigeria
Author(s) -
Sarah Gambo,
Woyopwa Shem
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of ideas in health :
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2645-9248
DOI - 10.47108/jidhealth.vol4.iss3.150
Subject(s) - social media , ignorance , agency (philosophy) , pandemic , covid-19 , sociology , political science , social science , law , medicine , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Background: Amidst the recent outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, there seems to be an avalanche of conspiracy theories that abound on social media platforms, and this subject attracted a lot of research interest. This study aimed to examine the "social media and the spread Covid-19 conspiracy theories in Nigeria" in light of the above.
Methods: The study adopted a qualitative design in order to explore the subject matter thoroughly. Thirty-five participants were conveniently sampled, and interviews were conducted to retrieved data from the participants.
Results: Findings of this study revealed that there is a prevalence of conspiracy theories that have saturated social media ever since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was also found that ignorance, religious fanaticism, lack of censorship, and insufficient counter information on social media platforms are some of the possible factors that aided the spread of Covid-19 conspiracy theories among Nigerian social media users.
Conclusion: This study recommends, among other things, that there is a swift need to curtail the spread of conspiracy theories through consistent dissemination of counter-information by both individuals and agencies like the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the Nigerian Centre for Disease and Control (NCDC).