By Edward Nnachi,
Ebonyi State,Southeast-Nigeria
Disinformation, which is a false or misleading information that is spread on purpose to trick people is having its negative tool on civic space across the Southeast region of Nigeria. The main goal is to cause harm, change public opinion, or gain political and money power.
In Southeast Nigeria, disinformation has severely deepened regional insecurity, amplified economic paralysis through forced compliance with unauthorized orders, and eroded public trust in local governance. False narratives spread rapidly across digital platforms and word-of-mouth networks, aggravating social tensions and disrupting community development.
This social and development malaise causes economic harm in the region forcing costly commercial shutdowns and workplace absenteeism, worsening regional financial loss; skews data and delays multilateral or NGO-backed social intervention projects by months due to heightened security risks and broken stakeholder trust; and discourages external investments and tourism by painting an exaggerated picture of total lawlessness.
Disinformation has also caused political polarization by deepening ethnic and political animosities through fabricated historical claims and manipulated digital media thus weakening civic participation and communal relationships as citizens grow suspicious of accurate public health and democratic information.
Based on findings from the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), disinformation in Nigeria significantly destabilizes fragile regions, deepens ethnic-religious divides, and erodes democratic trust.
Citizens are predicted to face a more complex information environment, tackling manipulations ranging from fabricated videos and audio clips to misleading narratives designed to inflame ethnic, religious or regional tensions. Some disinformation campaigns could also exploit genuine grievances and real events, twisting them into narratives that are difficult to distinguish from fact.
Therefore, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) combat conflict-related disinformation by monitoring digital narratives, running rapid fact-checking initiatives, and driving community media literacy. During crises, they serve as trusted bridges between local populations and official institutions, counteracting panic, ethnic polarization, and malicious state or non-state propaganda.
They play a vital role in managing disinformation by monitoring online information spaces, executing independent fact-checking, and driving community-level media literacy. They also build long-term societal resilience against false and manipulative narratives.
Efforts such as those being made by the Amnesty International should be engendered and corroborated by critical stakeholders in the civic space.
Amnesty International’s primary focus regarding disinformation centres on how Nigerian government countermeasures and proposed regulations threaten human rights, free speech, and civic space under the guise of fighting fake news.
The organization has criticized frameworks like the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Code of Practice for failing to properly distinguish between misinformation, disinformation, among others.
It has also warned that broad definitions of “harmful content” give authorities arbitrary power to censor critics, punish social media users for expressing political opinions, and enforce rapid 24-hour content takedowns.
Pronouncements by political figures pushing for severe social media penalties—including potential multi-year prison sentences for criticizing public authorities—have been condemned by Amnesty as violations of international human rights law.
Edward Nnachi
An Investigative and Development Journalist @ PUNCH Newspapers,
Writes from Southeast –Nigeria
nnachieddyugbor@gmail.com
08028535702