The Role of New Media in Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation in Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the role of new media in peacebuilding and conflict transformation. New media technologies encompassing social media platforms, blogs, and mobile communication has fundamentally transformed the landscape of information dissemination and interpersonal communication. In the context of peace building and conflict transformation, these digital tools offer unprecedented opportunities for promoting dialogue, fostering understanding and facilitating reconciliation among conflicting parties. The role of new media in peace building and conflict transformation is a global concern to peace and conflict scholars and policy makers. qualitative method was adopted, the broad objective of this paper is to examine the role of media in peacebuilding and conflict transformation. The kind of information the new media disseminate is critical to sustaining peace and harmony in society. However, new media also disseminate hate speech, and misinformation. This paper examined the impact of new media on peace building efforts in conflict affected regions. The study found that, new media platforms have helped to quickly spread peace messages, public perception during conflict is shaped by what goes viral online, the study also found out that misinformation loses its influence when individuals use new media such as twitter, facebook, and instagram to counter misinformation. Public sphere theory forms the framework for this paper, the paper recommended that proactive moderation to be made by service provider companies in order to detect and remove hate speech; government should support local peace networks with digital tools to expand outreach and engagement during and after conflict.