THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA DURING THE ENDSARS PROTEST IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Nigerians heavily promoted the #EndSARS protest using social media to the fullest extent, which caught the attention of the international and national communities in the year 2020. Nigerian police brutality was the target of the decentralized protest #EndSARS. Social media was largely used by Nigerian youths in disseminating information, mobilizing resources and people to protest against police brutality. However, social media was equally used for misinformation and fake news which turned the people against the police and the destruction of private and public properties followed suit. The study investigated the role and rationale behind the usage of social media during the Endsars protest. This study employed the Descriptive survey research design. The study employed the use of key informant interviews, In-depth interviews, and structured questionnaires as research instruments. A total of 16 interviews were conducted across the three senatorial districts in Lagos with 359 questionnaires administered as well. It was found out that Social media was instrumental to the endsars protest as it was the engine of information and mobilization. Social media was also used to protest online with the use of Hashtags which has been discovered in this study as the digital means of protesting. A recent development in social protest in Nigeria is the phenomenon of using social media as a catalyst of social protest. The study came to the conclusion that as internet use and adoption rise in the nation, social media would be utilised more frequently to compel the government to deal with more pressing concerns.   Keywords: Social protest, #EndSars, Social media, Social media information, Social media misinformation, Nigeria