Executive Summary

Information disorder has become the bane of modern society. The spread of misinformation and disinformation through digital platforms and social media is damaging public trust and endangering democracies globally. This brief highlights the challenges of identifying and verifying misinformation and its impact on political stability and social cohesion. 

A thorough look at the 2024 Edo and Ondo off-cycle gubernatorial elections found that misinformation was on the rise before, during and after these elections and it contributed heavily to voters’ confusion, distorted narratives on contesting candidates and the electoral process. Social media platforms have become the main centres in amplifying misinformation, especially during electoral processes or political discourse. Social media platforms like X, Facebook, and Whatsapp have changed the manner through which information is spread. 

Though there have been active approaches to curb misinformation spread on social media through government legislations and activities of fact-checking organisations, challenges continue to emerge as technology improves. Based on the foregoing, we recommended increased media literacy training, collaboration with fact checkers, inclusivity in fact checking and more. This brief concludes with a call to policy makers to prioritise implementing policies to curb misinformation spread and also encourage citizens to critically analyse every piece of information they come across on social media.