Electoral Violence in the ‘Digital Space’ in Nigeria's 2023 Presidential Election

• In Event: Elections and Politics in Africa

Abstract

Nigeria’s elections, since the attainment of independence in 1960, have been characterized by various forms of electoral violence, despite numerous efforts by successive Nigerian government to improve the electoral and democratic processes. Nigeria’s 2023 election has turned out to be one of the most contested elections that reinforced Nigeria’s deep-rooted ethno-religious cleavages. Scholarship on Nigeria’s elections scantily explored the evolving digital dimension of electoral violence. This paper interrogates the new form of electoral violence in the digital space that characterized the pre, election and post-election phases of Nigeria’s 2023 Presidential election. It examines how cyber-bullying, cyber-curse, fake news, digital manipulation of image, voice and video of presidential contenders, and fake digital prophesies, were deployed on social media platforms by supporters of the Presidential contenders, known as the Obidients, Atikulates, Batified in the 2023 presidential election. The study draws on reports, comments and images on social media platform such as WhatsApp, and Instagram in the election period. Social media has become a digital space for participation in the political processes, particularly by the Nigeria’s youth who have been hitherto denied political participation in the public sphere. Yet, the digital space has also become a space of socio-political contestations where diverse categories of individual and groups perpetrate all sort of cyber-politico-crimes. It has been used by political gladiators to propagate fake news, incite ethno-religious sentiments, mobilize individuals and social groups against political opponents and the government. The use of social media to intimidate, harass, threaten and demoralize supporters of the Presidential candidates could be described as an evolving form of digital electoral violence, which undermined Nigeria’s electoral process and democracy. This raises critical questions regarding the regulation of digital space to mitigate its use as a medium of eroding social and democratic values, human rights and security in Africa’s democracies.

Author

• Abosede Omowumi Babatunde, University of Ilorin