INFLUENCE OF POLITICAL HATE-SPEECH ON SOCIAL MEDIA, ITS IMPLICATION ON NIGERIA DEMOCRACY

The study examines Influence of Political Hate-Speech on Social Media, its Implication on Nigeria Democracy. Thestudy employed quantitative research approach. Using simple random sampling, seven departments were selectedout of fifteen faculties and copies of questionnaire were administered to respondents randomly. With the help oftrained research assistants, 350 copies of the instrument for data collection (questionnaire) were administered, out ofwhich 340 were valid and 10 were invalid. The valid data collected copies of questionnaire constituted the samplesize of the study. The study is anchored on Social Responsibility Media Theory which was developed by F. S.Siebert, T. B. Peterson and W. Schramm in (1963) as part of the 4 normative theories. The Theory of SocialResponsibility in media theory emerged as a response to growing concerns about the role and impact of media insociety. It evolved from a broader framework known as the normative media theory, which examines the ethical andmoral responsibilities of media organizations. The results obtained were analyzed and presented in frequency andpercentage method. The study concluded that hate speech is prevalent on social media and it aims to hurt peoplewith impoliteness or offensive words.The study recommended among others that hate speech should be treated as aserious crime and promoters of hatespeech should be punished appropriately regardless of the class.