5 votes

How fake news was weaponized in Nigeria's elections

1 comment

  1. alyaza
    Link
    i have to admit this is amusing: but it does a really good job of demonstrating both how easy it is to dupe people into believing something even if it's ridiculous and how insidious fake news is...

    i have to admit this is amusing:

    As denials go, it was extraordinary and more than a little surreal.
    The sitting president of Africa's largest democracy was forced to refute repeated claims that he had died and a clone was now running his office.
    "This is the real me," said Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, dismissing the allegation as "ignorant rumors" after a period of ill health. For the avoidance of any doubt, the denial is pinned to his official Twitter page.

    but it does a really good job of demonstrating both how easy it is to dupe people into believing something even if it's ridiculous and how insidious fake news is that a sitting president in one of the largest democracies in the world actually have to deny this on the record.

    1 vote