Sexualisation of Social Media Contents in Nigeria 

Many people have become popular, rich, and forces to reckon with in society by virtue of what they do on social media and the number of followers they have garnered. Consequently, companies and brands are running after those with large followership for endorsement deals.  Some with huge followings have utilised their platforms to advocate for societal good, while others pursue their personal or business interests. Martin Otse – the force called VeryDarkMan is a product of the power of social media. Virtually all businesses and governments have also keyed into this movement as a means of interaction with clients, customers and citizens. Donald Trump, in his first tenure, made the use of X (Twitter) a veritable means of an official government platform for engagement. He had hired and fired government officials using social media. His press statements were virtually issued through his social media handles.

He was not alone in the utilisation of this new buzz in town. Many other presidents and governments have identified the potential inherent in social media and have taken advantage of it to drive good or bad governance. Social media like every coin has two sides to it. It is a potent tool for building a better society or worse still for destroying it. Friendships, marriages, relationships and businesses are built and publicly destroyed on social media. Some people assume social media is a place for validation of their actions and inactions, forgetting that it is one court of public opinion where everybody is a lawyer but an ignorant judge working on hearsay and wrong perceptions. Many countries especially China has a defined national policy on social media. The platforms in China are obligated to actively moderate content and remove anything deemed inappropriate, including sexually explicit material, pornography, or content that promotes sexual immorality. This includes using algorithms, human moderation teams, and reporting systems to identify and remove such content.

The Chinese government was deliberate at insulating her citizens from many evils of the social media which can be monumentally destructive. To ensure sanity, Chinese people are denied access to the international version of TikTok which by the way is a Chinese app accessible to Nigerians and other countries except China herself. Does this ring a bell? They chose home-made version called Douyin, subject to Chinese censorship and content regulation. The international version of TikTok is not accessible for download or use on mainland Chinese networks or in Hong Kong. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, provides Chinese users with Douyin, which is a similar app but adheres strictly to Chinese government censorship, content control and regulations. TikTok and Douyin are essentially separate applications, with no connection between their content or user bases.

China has endeavoured as much as possible to use the social media as a tool for greater societal development. Contents created in that county for local consumption add value and increases know how. They are largely educational, instructive, and practical training in skills aimed at raising an army of productive citizens. Social media, as a platform of communication like conventional media, should essentially serve as a bastion for learning, training, leadership, and creating businesses for skills and development.

However, in Nigeria, what is obtainable is quite a bouquet of frivolities and morally debased contents. Social media has become a platform for sexualising the nation. Over 98% of the content created has one form of sexual imprimatur or the other on it. Once upon a time, the private parts were strictly private but not anymore. The most annoying part of content creation in Nigeria is a series of TikTok video showing where girls are instructed to raise their blouses up and expose their mammal glands simply to get likes and followers. Unfortunately, many young girls rush to this boy’s page begging and competing for attention and exposing their organs.

The way and manner the boy orders them around and even addresses them leaves much to be desired. However, for the sake of fame and monetisation, the girls overlook his insolence and long term repercussions of their actions. In their beclouded sense of reasoning, the end justifies the means. They forget that the internet does not forget. One day, the actions, they innocently or zealously took to be on the spotlight will definitely come back hunting them. Most Nigerian girls are easy preys. It takes a flashy car (may be hired), promise of a mobile phone and little cash to fool them. The hunger for fame or money has exposed them to many dangers and acts of deception. But nobody is ready to learn from the obvious mistakes of others.

Another one is @1bodycount social media handle where the guy ask girls sexually explicit questions like what is that secret they never told their ex or boyfriend, their favourite knacking position, where is the weirdest place they have done it, do they swallow or spit etc. As he led them on, the girls get excited, spin around to exhibit their assets and spill foolishly their long time held personal secrets simply to trend. One boy called Peller who knows next to nothing has suddenly become a role model even to the educated for posting meaningless videos. He won the SilverBird Influencer of the Year Award at the 2024 Silver Man of the Year Awards. One actually wonders the import and impact of his videos on the society to warrant the award.

How did we get here? The age long family values of morality, truth, respect, discipline, hard work, integrity and humility have been eroded. Many families are no longer responsive and alive to their responsibilities. While some parents do their utmost best to keep up the moral virtues in the interest of their families, others run after money, fame, political offices — leaving the formation of their kids in the hands of house maids, nannies and school teachers. This parental vacuum created has affected the children negatively and something urgent needs to be done.

Conversely, some kids have willingly assumed the black sheep of their families despite parental efforts to make them better and responsible children. What is the way forward? Government should not only ban the recent music single of Idris Abdulkareem entitled “Seyi, Tell your Papa” but also design a workable policy framework that will effectively regulate access to social media platforms and content inimical to the moral fibre and the general societal norms. The Cyber Security Act 2015 should be deployed purposely to address grave immorality on the internet and save imminent societal collapse. Before marriages are consummated, couples should have known that upbringing of their children are first their personal responsibility.  Therefore, the onus of nurturing good citizens lies squarely on their shoulders. The society is completely overwhelmed, and it is becoming extremely cumbersome to guide the right children of this generation, whose parents have already failed in their first line of duty.

Sunday Onyemaechi Eze is a lecturer, Department of Mass Communication and Head, Internationalisation and Partnership, Coal City University, Enugu