Vol. 14(1), pp. 15 -13. January, 2026. 

ISSN: 2360-784X

https://doi.org/10.14662/ijpsd2025250

 

Full Length Research

 

Abstract

The rapid spread of digital misinformation, particularly in fragile democracies, has emerged as a critical challenge to democratic governance, civic trust, and informed decision-making. Fact-checking has become a central corrective mechanism, yet research increasingly shows that mere exposure to fact-checks does not automatically translate into acceptance. This study examines the role of trust and media literacy in shaping the acceptance of fact-checking interventions by integrating insights from agenda-setting, trust, and media literacy theories. Using a cross-sectional survey of 400 social media users, the study employed validated trust and acceptance measures with strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s α > 0.86). Analytical techniques included multivariate regression, logistic regression, variance inflation factor diagnostics, residual analyses, bootstrapped confidence intervals, and mediation-moderation modeling, with demographic and contextual controls for age, education, political interest, and platform use. The findings reveal that fact-checking exposure predicts acceptance only indirectly through trust in fact-checking institutions, confirming trust as the central mechanism of corrective influence. Media literacy significantly moderates this pathway, amplifying the effect of trust among high-literacy individuals, while education, political interest, and digital literacy emerged as significant positive covariates. Platform effects were also observed, with WhatsApp users being less likely to accept fact-checks than users of more open platforms. Robustness checks confirmed the results’ stability. The study concludes that fact-checking is effective only when it fosters trust and when audiences possess adequate media literacy to critically evaluate corrections. Ethical concerns, such as bias perceptions, transparency, and independence, emerged as key contextual factors that shape acceptance. These findings contribute theoretically by integrating agenda-setting, trust, and literacy perspectives into a single explanatory framework and by highlighting the need to strengthen institutional credibility, embed media literacy in civic education, and design platform-sensitive corrective strategies.

 

Keywords: Digital misinformation; Fact-checking; Trust; Media literacy; Agenda-setting; Nigeria..

 

	Cite This Article As: Okorozoh, U.A., Okorozoh, U.L. (2026). Digital Misinformation and Fact-Checking: Understanding Trust Dynamics Among Nigerian Social Media Users. Int. J. Polit. Sci. Develop. 14(1):15-33