TY  -  JOUR
AU  -  BABATUNDE Victor Olusegun &
PY  -  2026/04/30
Y2  -  2026/06/11
TI  -  Influence Of Social Media Misinformation On Mob Justice Among Undergraduates In Kwara State
JF  -  Nasarawa Journal Of Multimedia And Communication Studies
JA  -  NJOMACS
VL  -  8
IS  -  2
SE  -  
DO  -  
UR  -  https://www.njomacs.com/paper/influence-of-social-media-misinformation-on-mob-justice-among-undergraduates-in-kwara-state
SP  -  191–210
AB  -  This study examined the influence of social media misinformation on mob justice among 
undergraduates in Kwara State, Nigeria. Despite growing scholarship on digital misinformation 
and extrajudicial violence, empirical evidence on how exposure shapes moral cognition among 
younger, digitally native populations in northern Nigerian contexts remained sparse. Anchored in 
Social Cognitive Theory, the study adopted a cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected 
from 398 undergraduates across three universities using a structured questionnaire measuring 
exposure to misinformation and perceptions of moral justification. Descriptive and inferential 
statistical techniques were employed for analysis. Findings revealed substantial exposure to 
multimodal misinformation portraying suspects as deserving immediate punishment. Respondents 
concurrently endorsed mob justice as morally wrong whilst acknowledging that misinformation 
influenced their moral judgement. Exposure to social media misinformation significantly predicted 
perceptions of moral justification, though the effect size was modest, indicating that institutional 
trust and personal ethics also shape moral cognition. The study concluded that whilst digital 
exposure incrementally shifts evaluative frameworks through observational learning, it does not 
fully determine moral outcomes. These findings extend Social Cognitive Theory by demonstrating 
its probabilistic operation in a digitally saturated, institutionally fragile context. Targeted media 
literacy programmes and regulatory friction mechanisms are recommended to mitigate 
misinformation-driven moral disengagement among emerging civic leaders.
ER  -