Distribution of fake news is not a new phenomenon in the historical account of the media. In fact, misinformation has been in existence ever before the advent of social media. Its origin dates back to the time before the printing press. This implies that false stories have been in dissemination as long as human beings have lived in groups where power exists. It is based on the above testament that these researchers have attempted to do a critical study on the historical antecedents of fake news and the phenomenon of social media misinformation in South Africa and Nigeria. Data were gathered through case study in which various occurrences about dissemination of fake information on South Africans and Nigerians in social media were investigated within the real life context. The data were subjected to scrutiny in order to ascertain their veracity and validity before being synthesized, interpreted, described and summarized, using descriptive data analysis tool. It was discovered that cases of fake news are prevalent in African states and the perceived incredibility of popular online news sources is on the increase, and this may have negative impact on the democratic enterprise in contemporary African society. The conclusion is that with the ubiquitous of social media and users’ anonymity the problems of free press are becoming more and more complex and even more dangerous.
Vol. 4, No 2, pp. 122-131.