The Violation of the Law of Defamation in Political Campaigns on Social Media During Nigeria's 2023 General Elections

Abstract

Background: Although Nigeria’s 2023 general campaigns featured prominently on social media, limited studies have examined the violation of the law of defamation in the process. Objective: This study examines the violation of the law of defamation in social media campaigns during the 2023 general election in Nigeria. Method: The study used a descriptive survey, and the sample consisted of 321 active social media users with a background in law. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, while analyses were done using percentages, mean, and standard deviation, as well as an independent t-test. The results were presented in charts and tables. Result: The majority (52%) of the participants indicated that the law of defamation was violated on social media to a large extent during the 2023 general election campaigns in Nigeria. The participants indicated that there were more violations in the presidential election than in the governorship election. Also, there were more violations in the National Assembly election than in the State Assembly. Overall, there were more violations in the presidential election than in all the other categories of elections examined. Contribution: This study has provided empirical evidence for understanding how social media use in politics has led to the violation of the law of defamation during electioneering campaigns. Conclusion: The law of defamation was violated on social media during the 2023 electioneering campaigns.

Keywords

• campaigns; elections
• general election
• law of defamation
• social media
• violation