Nigeria 2023 Election - Countering Fake News DeutscheWelle: Nigeria
He describes the disinformation cycle that he has witnessed ahead of the presidential and parliamentary election in Africa's most populous country and the continent's biggest economy as"worrisome."
Even though such claims are quickly debunked, they have been seen, commented on, and shared thousands of times. The INEC has expressed concerns that the spread of fake news and hate speech is a threat to the election. In the past weeks and months, there have repeatedly been attacks on INEC's offices across the country. Election-related material such as ballot boxes or uncollected voter cards have been destroyed in arson attacks, and some people were killed.
Against this backdrop, election observers and fact-checkers wouldn't be surprised to see coordinated efforts to spread disinformation in the run-up to the election.Under Nigeria's Cybercrime Act, it is an offense to spread disinformation. Such a crime is punishable by up to three years in prison, a fine of about 7 million Naira , or both.
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