Assessment of the spread of fake news of Covid-19 amongst social media users in Kano State, Nigeria

Abstract

The issue of fake news and its impact has become prominent in recent times. This study is motivated by the need to assess the spread of fake news on Covid-19 amongst social media users in Kano State. The study adopted the Technological Determinism theory. It sought to investigate the extent to which social media users in Kano State are aware of fake news on Covid-19, to find key areas of Covid-19 on which fake news was spread on social media in Kano State, to find out the factors that influence the spread of fake news on Covid-19 among social media users in Kano State as well as to examine the consequence of the spread of fake news on Covid-19 among social media users in Kano State. A quantitative approach was adopted through the administration of 395 questionnaires to the respondents. The study found that 65.6% of the respondents are aware of fake news on Covid-19 in Kano state, 41.3% of the respondents agreed that inflated number was a major topic/key area being discussed, 30.1% of the respondents said trending topics on Covid-19 influenced the spreading of fake news on the topic and 41.8% of the respondents are of the view that the consequence of the spread of Covid-19 fake news is non-adherence to safety measures. Hence 74.2% of the respondents agreed that social media aids the spread of fake news on Covid-19. The study concludes that the number of people who were exposed to fake news stories on Covid-19 on social media was significantly high in Kano State.