Circumspections of Information on Social Media: A Review of Extant Literature

Abstract

This study is an analysis of the various potential problems and dangers both legally and
socially that arise from the increased use of social media by its users. The methodology
adopted is non-doctrinal, wherein relevant literatures were reviewed to determine the
legal and social issues on users arising from viral information on social media. The work
shows that despite the numerous benefits viral information on social media brings, it
possesses legal challenges such as copyright infringement and defamation where there
are no regulatory policies, it also helps to spread unverifiable and unreliable information
and it can also be a distraction to employees in a workplace as well as students. The
researchers recommended the need for Nigeria to have laws to regulate and protect social
media users and also content creators to protect their work from copyrights on the social
media platforms.