Political Campaign Responses to Information Disorder: A Case Study of the 2023 Nigerian Presidential Elections

Abstract

During the 2023 Nigerian presidential campaign, a variety of political, ethnic, and religious tensions contributed to a significant spike in false and misleading information. To navigate this complex information ecosystem, campaigns set up media units to, in varying degrees, produce disinformation about other candidates, reinforce disinformation being spread on social media, and respond to disinformation targeting their preferred candidate. Our study examines the circulation of false and misleading information during the 2023 Nigerian presidential campaign through a critical discourse analysis of campaign press statements issued in support of the top three candidates for president. To analyze these statements, we first present an original typology of political campaign responses to information disorder that includes prebunking, debunking, fake-news tagging, and counter-disinformation. We then apply this typology to our case, finding that Nigerian presidential campaigns frequently trafficked in information disorder, both by introducing false and misleading information as well as by responding to damaging information. In closing, we argue that our typology, which conceptualizes information disorder as an ongoing exchange between purveyors and targets of false and misleading information, can be helpful for understanding information disorder in political campaigns around the world.