IDENTIFICATION AND CURBING OF FAKE NEWS ON ONLINE MEDIA PLATFORMS AMONG MAIDUGURI METROPOLIS RESIDENTS

Abstract This study examine "identification and curbing fake news on online media platforms Among Maiduguri Metropolis residents" .The objectives of the study are to: examine the knowledge of fake news among Maiduguri residents, examine how residents of Maiduguri identify fake news and Identify how residents of Maiduguri curb fake news. This study was guided by the Knowledge gap theory where provided valuable insights of a group of better educated people who know more about most things and those with low education who know less.The survey method was employed to gather information from a sample of four hundred (400) respondents from Bolori, Galtimari, Gwange, Maiduguri, Maisandari, Shehuri and Yerwa which is systematically selected from a total population of 870,two hundred-one(201), In order to elicit relevant data for the study from the respondents, Kobo collect application installed google form questionnaire into it was used on collecting data and also frequency distribution table was used for presenting data collected from the respondents. The study concludes that fake news is a serious issue that is growing always as a result of social media open space for dessiminating information without any monitoring by regulatory bodies. The study recommends that to curb the spread of fake news both social media and personal individuals should contribute through providing online discussion forums to educate and enlight people about the impact of fake news, and verifying stories before sharing it to various social media account handle.