IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON NATIONAL SECURITY: A STUDY OF THE ENDSARS PROTEST 2020

This study investigates the impact of social media on national security in Nigeria, using the EndSARS protest of 2020 as a case study. The research explores how social media platforms especially Twitter was used to mobilize mass protests, shape public discourse, and demand government accountability in response to police brutality. It also examines how the government responded to the protest, highlighting tensions between digital activism and national security enforcement. The study adopts a qualitative methodology anchored in an interpretivist philosophical framework, relying on digital observation and secondary data from social media content, news reports, and human rights documentation. Thematic analysis was employed to identify major patterns such as online mobilization, youth identity formation, misinformation, and state surveillance. Findings reveal that social media significantly enhanced protest coordination, collective identity, and global awareness of human rights violations. However, it also provoked aggressive state responses, including digital repression and security crackdowns. The study concludes that while social media empowered civic participation, it simultaneously posed new challenges for national security management in the digital era. It recommends that the Nigerian government adopt more balanced approaches to digital regulation, enhance public trust, and address the root causes of civil unrest rather than suppressing online dissent.