When public figures become ‘key distributors’ of misinformation
“We’re pregnant @lila_bossbaby. We’ve carried you in our hearts for far too long! Now we’re restless to hold you in our arms and show you off to the world. Together we will love, nurture and watch you blossom,” a former Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) housemate, Kate ‘Ka3na’ Jones, captioned an Instagram post on January 24, 2023, with ‘protruding belly’ which also featured her first child, Lila.
With the post, which she captioned with #PregnancyAnnouncement, the reality star created the impression that she was expecting another baby. She didn’t stop there, days after the ‘pregnancy announcement’ post, she flooded her Instagram page with videos of herself rocking the baby bump.
Contrary to what she made many believe, the posts, which many have described as misleading, were part of a campaign for her new business, she clarified on January 30, 2023.
In March 2023, the mainstream media and many blogs in Nigeria were awash with reports that former BBNaija stars Saga Adeolu and Nini Singh were engaged following a video shared on Instagram by a wedding videographer. None of the reports seen in the mainstream media by Neusroom quoted the reality stars or mentioned reaching out to them to confirm the authenticity of the post. On April 12, 2023, Adeolu debunked the report and claimed it was a clip from a December 2022 shoot.
Nigeria’s 2023 elections further exposed this disturbing trend of fake news by public figures. During the election, celebrities and politicians with large social media followings proved to be major purveyors of misinformation. Even when confronted with the truth, many of them prefer to hold on to alternative facts.
On Thursday, February 23, 2023, a veteran in the Nigerian entertainment industry – Charles ‘Charly Boy’ Oputa, shared a viral post via his verified Instagram handle claiming former President Olusegun Obasanjo stopped 100 trucks conveying one million Chadians into Nigeria through Kaduna to vote in the February 25, 2023, presidential election.
“Obasanjo Blocked 100 Trucks Containers Carrying Nearly 1Million Chadians From Entering Nigeria To Kaduna To Vote APC,” a part of the post read.
The misleading post was liked by more than 11,000 people and garnered over 2,000 comments before it was deleted by the music star and replaced by another post quoting Obasanjo as declaring his resolve to ensure Peter Obi emerges President.
“The only thing that can stop Peter Obi from winning the 2023 election is only when they rigged him out but am here to show the world and Nigerians that once a soldier is always a soldier,” a part of the post read.
No source was quoted in the post with over 14,000 likes and 1,800 comments, and no mainstream media reported Obasanjo making the statement anywhere.
Femi Fani-Kayode, a UK-trained lawyer, former Minister of Aviation and spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council was also summoned by the DSS over his tweet alleging that some top army personnel met with some politicians, including the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, in a bid to plan a coup and scuttle the 2023 general election.
On February 21, 2023, wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, took to her verified Instagram and Facebook pages to share a fake press release about the new Naira notes purportedly issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). When she eventually deleted the post hours after the CBN had debunked the report, she claimed it was the handiwork of hackers.
In the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic and the many conspiracy theories that trailed the fight against the virus in 2020, research by Oxford’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that politicians, celebrities and other prominent public figures were responsible for producing or spreading 20% of false claims about coronavirus. The study also revealed that their posts accounted for 69% of total social media engagement.
“While the majority of misinformation on social media came from ordinary people, most of these posts seemed to generate far less engagement,” the findings of the report say.
The study suggests that fact-checkers and mainstream news outlets are struggling to compete with the reach of influencers. The danger of this trend as revealed by the study is that celebrities have a very wide reach and enjoy a cult-like following on social media, making it difficult for mainstream news outlets to compete with their reach.
Social media has reconfigured the way fans gain access to their favourite stars, making them feel more connected than they were 15 – 20 years ago. It has also given rise to ‘Stan Culture’, where a legion of overzealous fans takes anything posted online by their idols hook, line and sinker and further share widely across their networks, without subjecting them to scrutiny.
Stan culture (a combination of stalker and fan), the behavior or beliefs of an extreme fandom who fervently and blindly support their chosen celebrity or team, is also making it difficult for credible media platforms to debunk some of the fake news posted online by public figures.
Celebrities understand the Stan culture syndrome and they take advantage of it to drive narratives – false or right.
Segun Olakoyenikan, a journalist who was Fact-Checking and Digital Investigation Lead (Nigeria) at AFP, told Neusroom that some celebrities have adopted a business model that relies heavily on controversy.
“In order to maintain their relevance in the highly competitive realm of social media, they intentionally manufacture issues out of thin air, just to keep people talking about them,” Olakoyenikan said.
Who should be blamed? The public figures and influencers who take advantage of their social media fandom to drive misleading narratives with the aim of promoting a project or product, or the journalists who do not do proper verification before reporting claims made by celebrities on their social media pages as the true representation of facts?
“Blame should be shared among all involved parties. It is the responsibility of each individual to ensure they are not perpetuating the spread of disinformation or any type of misinformation,” Olakoyenikan said. “The decentralisation of media can also be a contributing factor. Ethical journalism is founded on principles such as accuracy, and when false reports are disseminated in mainstream media, it is reasonable to question both the credibility of the journalist and, to some extent, the media organisation.”
When Rihanna made a statement with her baby bump during her performance at the Superbowl in February 2023, the American mainstream media confirmed from her representative before reporting that she is pregnant with a second baby.
Olakoyenikan says it’s high time journalists started calling out public figures over fake news and holding them accountable like politicians because they wield a great deal of influence.
He believes that consistently holding them accountable in this manner over an extended period of time can foster a sense of responsibility and deter them from engaging in such behaviour, as they will understand that their reputation is at stake.
“During the early stages of fact-checking in Nigeria, many politicians showed a complete disregard for accuracy. They frequently presented false statistics and exaggerated their policy achievements to score political points. However, with increased awareness among the general public, politicians are now aware that their actions are being watched, and they may be called out for spreading false information,” Olakoyenikan said. “A similar approach could be taken with celebrities, particularly those in the entertainment industry who have not yet been exposed for spreading false claims.”
