Social Media Hate Speech and Ethno-Religious Conflict in Jos, Plateau State: A Qualitative Study of Stakeholders’ Perspectives

Abstract

Conflicts based on religion, ethnicity and negative narratives have fuelled violence, hatred, discrimination and segregation between the two dominant religions and various ethnic groups for decades, particularly in North-Central Nigeria. Existing studies often explain the conflict through isolated ethnic, religious, political, historical and economic factors. Such explanations overlook the dynamic ways in which conflict narratives are constructed and communicated on social media platforms. Against this backdrop, this study examined stakeholders’ perspectives on hate speech on social media, with a focus on recurrent ethno-religious conflict in Jos, Plateau State. It interrogates the role of hate speech on social media in influencing ethno-religious conflict. Hinged on the theoretical postulations of Media Determinism Theory (MDT), the study adopted a qualitative research method. It utilised semi-structured in-depth interviews as the method of data collection. Seventeen (17) stakeholders, including traditional rulers, religious leaders, community leaders, civil society members, youth leaders, media/academia representatives and policymakers, were purposively selected to constitute the study population. Data were analysed based on generated themes that emerged inductively. The study found that hate speech on social media is a potent accelerant of conflict, exacerbated by the spread of misinformation, ease of dissemination, lack of regulation, and derogatory and inciting statements. The findings highlight the need for targeted interventions, including self-censorship, community-based initiatives, media literacy, improved regulations, policy implementation and continuous peacebuilding, to mitigate the impact of hateful content on social media during conflict and promote social cohesion in Nigeria’s diverse sociocultural society.