NJOMACS

The emergence of the social media and other digital technologies have changed the face of political mobilisation, not only in Nigeria, but also across the globe. Before the emergence of the social media, political parties and their candidates usually deployed conventional ways of mobilising the electorate during political campaigns; in most cases, serious civic engagements could not take place, because the crowd, in some cases, rented, usually dispersed after the rally. But today, with the social media, a political party, its track records, candidates, manifestoes, actions and inactions, as well as promises/utterances can be scrutinised by the people it wishes to govern. It follows therefore that the utilisation of the social media in political mobilisation has led to further expansion of the public sphere as well as the democratisation of the political space. However, there are still some challenges associated with using the social media for political mobilisation, such as the emergence of hate speech, fake news, and other vile languages. The author, therefore recommended that during the electioneering process, especially the campaign period, major stakeholders, including the platform owners should set the rules of engagement of using the social media; and that any resort to hate speech, fake news, and vile language should be meted with the appropriate sanctions.