An Assessment Of The Influence Of Social Media On Youth Criminality In Abuja, F.C.T

Project and Seminar Material for Sociology

Abstract

This study was carried out to an assessment of the influence of social media on youth criminality in Abuja, F.C.T. Specifically, the study examined ways the use of social media have influenced students behaviours, the various criminal activities that are promoted on social media amongst students, and how social media crimes have affected Abuja. The study employed the survey descriptive research design. A total of 400 responses were validated from the survey. The study adopted the differential association theory which was developed by Edwin Sutherland to explain the reason for individual’s involvement in social media fraud and how they learnt the techniques to perpetrate the act through interaction with others. From the responses obtained and analysed, the findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between social media usage and students’ negative behaviour change. Furthermore, there is a significant relationship between social media crimes and increase in crime rate in Abuja. This is as the Pearson correlation test showed a significant relationship (.922**) and (.869**) between social media and students’ negative behaviour change and increase in crime rate respectively. On the basis of these findings, it was recommended that the Federal Government should empower the youths in terms of job creation and regularly engage the IT industries to develop strategies to curtail social media crimes. More so, everybody should report to law enforcement agencies anyone suspected to be involved in social media criminal.

Table of Content

Title Page
Certification
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Table of Content
List of Tables
Abstract

Chapter One:

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Objective of the Study
1.4 Research Questions
1.5 Research Hypothesis
1.6 Significance of the Study
1.7 Scope of the Study
1.8 Limitation of the Study
1.9 Definition of Terms
1.10 Organisations of the Study

Chapter Two:

Review of Literature

2.1 Conceptual Framework
2.2 Theoretical Framework
2.3 Empirical Review

Chapter Three:

Research Methodology

3.1 Research Design
3.2 Population of the Study
3.3 Sample Size Determination
3.4 Sample Size Selection Technique and Procedure
3.5 Research Instrument and Administration
3.6 Method of Data Collection
3.7 Method of Data Analysis
3.8 Validity of the Study
3.9 Reliability of the Study
3.10 Ethical Consideration

Chapter Four:

Data Presentation and Analysis

4.1 Data Presentation
4.2 Analysis of Data
4.3 Answering Research Questions
4.4 Test of Hypotheses

Chapter Five:

Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Summary
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendation
References
APPENDIX
QUESTIONNAIRE

Chapter One

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

The invention of electronic devices, such as modern communication equipment, Internet services and computer systems, was a milestone in human history. Ayantokun (2006) defined the computer as a machine that performs tasks such as computing or electronic communication under the control of a series of instructions called a program. The programs are usually located on the computer and are accessed and processed by the computer’s electronics. The results of the program are saved or transferred to output devices, such as video monitors or printers. Oyewole and Obeta (2002) define a computer as an electronic device that accepts, processes, stores and sends data at high speed according to programmed instructions. Computers perform a wide variety of activities reliably, accurately and quickly, depending on the purpose for which they were designed. Computers can be used in education, medicine, engineering design, scientific research, office automation, personal management, etc. (Morley and Parker, 2007).

According to Rogers (1995), the rapid evolution of the computer brought the internet. The internet services have reduced the world into a global village which makes it look as if everybody is in the same place at a particular point in time. Aside the fact that the internet has made communication to be easier and faster, a lot of other transactions are consummated at the speed of lightening. Oyewole and Obeta (2002), state that the internet is the inter connection of computer across the world thereby creating unlimited opportunities for mankind. Ehimen and Bola (2009), state that cyberspace has provided a save haven for internet platform, which has created geometric growth and accelerated windows of opportunities for businesses and the removal of economic barriers hitherto faced by nations of the world. People from diverse areas of human endeavor can now freely access and utilize the advantages offered by internet platform. In addition, Young Media Association (2007), listed the following as the positive gain the internet has brought to the world: Facilitation of job search and employment, Accessibility to research information for education and businesses, Rural integration, Enhancement of trade and commerce, Sharing of resources and ideas, Enhance communication.

Aside these good works that internet has done and its still doing for humanity, it has also become a platform where criminal activities are perpetrated. These crimes are known as cybercrimes such as internet fraud, hacking, phishing, cybersex trafficking, cyberterrorism, etc can be done through the social media. Social media are interactive digitally-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation or sharing/exchange of information, ideas, career interests, and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.

The use of social media (internet powered) in the 21st century has become a core integral part of humans everyday life. Beyond the visible observations in our environment, some researchers have also attested to the pervasiveness of this global situation. Far back 2012, Nielsen, a communications company in the United States of America reported that internet users across the country have continued to spend additional time than the usual on social media when compared to any other category of website ever had. This report further detailed that as at July 2012, social media usage time was 121 billion minutes which shows a rise from 88 billion minutes in July 2011. Global Web Index (2019, p.3) reports that average social media user now spends 2 hours and 16 minutes each day on social media platforms, which equates to roughly one third of their total internet time and one-seventh of their waking lives. Increased usage of social media can be tagged a global phenomenon.

Online technologies have continued to erase the line between the traditional media and their audience. This significant success has been facilitated by the two-way communication system which social media provides than the one-way broadcast method of the traditional media. Social media have given masses a voice which the traditional media though committed to achieve has not yet totally achieved.

With the continuous improvements in information and communication technologies and increasing possibilities for ubiquitous internet connectivity, more freedom is anticipated for using social media whenever and wherever one wants. Relating to freedom, and as indicated by Nielsen (2012), social media (appearing in the form of MySpace, LinkedIn, Facebook, Mebo, Twitter and others) continue to alter the way in which humans access, generate, share and use information (Cabral, 2011). With the possibility for more freedom (i.e. of connectivity and access) regarding networking online anywhere and at any time, it is not difficult to note that social media use will remain a regular aspect of humans everyday life. Social media use is already pervasive in all contexts, but many implications of the specific use of social media in the lives of specific sets of users are not adequately conspicuous and they may not be until further researches are focus on their exposure.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The Internet’s contribution to the nation’s development has been marred by the development of a new wave of crime. The Internet has also become an environment where the most lucrative and secure crimes thrive. There are signs that social media crime is on the rise. For example, a 2005 YouGov survey of UK internet users found that one in 20 people lost money to online fraud. A 2001 survey also found that 52 percent of businesses surveyed said Internet fraud was a real problem for them (Wall, 2007). These are clear signs that social media crime is on the rise and is recognized as such globally, and there is a lack of research into this burgeoning crime in Nigeria.

Technology has integrated nations and the world has become a global village. The economy of most nations in the world is accessible through the aid of electronic via the internet. Since the electronic market is opened to everybody (which includes eavesdroppers and criminals), false pretense find a fertile ground in this situation. Vladimir (2005), said the internet is a global network which unites millions of computers located in different countries and open broad opportunities to obtain and exchange information but it is now being used for criminal purposes due to economic factors. Nigeria, a third world country is faced with so many economic challenges such as unemployment amongst others, which are capable of making this crime thrive. Apart from the economy factor been a possible cause of social media fraud in Nigeria, there might be other causes for the continued rise in social media fraud activity.

In Nigeria, perpetrators of this crime who are commonly referred to as “yahoo yahoo boys” take advantage of e-commerce system available on the internet to defraud victims who are mostly foreigners thousands and sometimes millions of dollars. They fraudulently represent themselves as having particular goods to sell or that they are involved in a loan scheme project. They may even pose to have financial institution where money can be loaned out to prospective investors. In this regard, persons and organization are duped or have fallen victims. However, these are not the only techniques used by these social media crime perpetrators, there could be others which the research intends to unravel.
Attempt to address social media crime which the most rampant one is fraud by various governments and international organizations have not been successful owing to the fact that the identities of the perpetrators of social media fraud remain ambiguous and inadequate. A study by Zero Tolerance (2006), indicates that social media fraudsters are usually within the age bracket of 18 to 30 years and they indulge in the crime in order to survive and have a taste of good life. Noting these observations, there is need to identify more attributes/characteristics these social media fraudsters possess and what are other causes since it have been acknowledged that a good taste of life is a major factor.

Consequently, many countries have intensified efforts in curbing the excesses of social media fraudsters. Nevertheless, efforts have been made by the Federal Government of Nigeria to curb the menace of the crime too. For instance, according to Awe (2009), the government of President Olusegun Obansanjo in 2003 set up a working group known as the Nigeria Social media fraud Working Group (NCWG) to address this phenomenon since the loss suffered by both consumers and investors creates serious credibility and image problem to the country. Similarly, according to Abdulhamid et al, (2011), in Nigeria, a bill title “Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure bill” is presently been prepared to deal specifically with the menace of social media fraud. The Economic and Other Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) have also played vital roles in curbing this menace. To support their efforts, Microsoft and other internet related organizations like PARADIGM Initiative Nigeria, Background Check International (BCI) and the Internet safety,

Security and Privacy Initiative for Nigeria (ISSPIN) have also assisted to curb the maladies (Awe, 2009). In spite of all these efforts, social media fraud in Nigeria is still on the increase. The situation raises a question on the type of social media fraud that is on the increase and remedy to solve the menace. Consequently, base on the above statements the research work was designed to examine the role of social media and youth criminality among University of Abuja Students.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The primary objective of this study is an assessment of the influence of social media on youth criminality in Abuja, F.C.T using University of Abuja students as case study. Specifically, to:

Assess how the behavior of the students is impacted upon by social media.
Investigate the various types of social media crimes students are involved in
Examine the societal consequences of social media crimes amongst University of Abuja students.

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions guides the study:

In what ways have the use of social media influence students’ behavior?
What are the various criminal activities promoted on social media amongst students?
How has the social media crimes affected the society, Abuja specifically?

1.5 Statement of Hypothesis

The study developed for testing the following null hypothesis:

H01: There is no significant relationship between social media usage and students’ negative behaviour change.
H02: There is no significant relationship between social media crimes and increase in crime rate in Abuja.

1.6 Significance of the Study

With the ever-increasing pace of development, social media crimes have become an inevitable and a more specialized area which threatens the economy and even the peace and security of the nation. The publicity surrounding Nigeria social media criminal activities is raising fears that the country may face a slowdown in international investment in telecommunication as well as the financial sectors (Thomas, 2011). As more Nigerians use the internet for their banking needs, the number of criminal such as fraudsters eyeing people’s bank accounts and online financial transactions has also multiplied. Hence, this study has provided useful information on the factors responsible for the increase rate of social media fraud in the society.

Unlike the advance societies, developing societies have almost little or no modalities put in place to curb the excesses of social media crimes. In order to outsmart the social media fraud fighting agencies, these social media fraudsters have connections with one another thereby learning more sophisticated methods/skills day in day out to commit this havoc. As such, the exposure of the techniques been used by these social media fraudsters will contribute positively to the efforts being made by these agencies.

Moreover, since youths within the age bracket of 18-30 years (Zero Tolerance, 2006), have been identified to be most vulnerable to this crime and have also been identified to be either in tertiary institutions or about to be admitted into one or graduates. The research work was able to identify other attributes/characteristics of social media fraudsters. In addition, since social media crimes is denting the country image among the committee of nations and the present administration has vowed to place Nigeria among the top twenty largest economies in the world. This research will contribute positively to the efforts being made by concerned government and private agencies to develop strategies to combat the menace.

Above all, taking into account that social media fraud and the underlying criminology behind cyber criminals are very new and there is a relative shortage of available research and literature on the subject. This therefore, makes this study very important because the study has added to the existing literature by revealing a number of different bases on what typically makes and motivates social media crimes and also identify the consequences it has in the society. This study will also serve as a benchmark for students and researchers who may carry out research on similar topic or related domain.

1.7 Scope of the Study

This study focuses mainly on assessing the role social media plays in youth criminality. The different ways social media impact students’ behavior, the effect of social media in promoting criminal activities among students and the various types of social media crimes students are involved in are investigated in this study. The scope of this study covers only University of Abuja Students, Gwagwalada.

1.9 Definition of Key Terms

Social Media:

Social media are interactive digitally-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation or sharing/exchange of information, ideas, career interests, and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.

Crime:

Crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority.

Cybercrime:

Cybercrime is defined as a crime where a computer is the object of the crime or is used as a tool to commit an offense. A cybercriminal may use a device to access a user’s personal information, confidential business information, government information, or disable a device.

Youth:

Youth is the time of life when one is young, and often means the time between childhood and adulthood. It is also defined as “the appearance, freshness, vigor, spirit, etc., characteristic of one who is young”.

Fraud:

Fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right.
Hacking: Hacking refers to activities that seek to compromise digital devices, such as computers, smartphones, tablets, and even entire networks. Hackers are motivated by personal gain, to make a statement, or just because they can.

Computer:

Computer is described as an electronic machine that works under the control of store information (programs). It accepts data (input), store data in the memory and process the data to produce the required result in a specified format as information (output).

Internet:

Internet means international communication network. It is a communication network among computers. It is an interconnection of computers across globe.

1.10 Organization of the Study

To achieve the purpose of this research. The study is divided into five inter-connected chapters, ranging from chapter one to five.

In this chapter one the researcher has been able to give an introduction to the work, state the problem that necessitate this study, outline the questions this work seek to answer as well as the objectives it hopes to achieve. The scope and limitations of this study were outlined as well as the hypotheses to be tested in the study.
Chapter two deals with literature review, conceptual review and theoretical framework.
Chapter three discuss the research methodology and methods of data analysis.
Chapter four delves into data presentation, analysis and interpretation as well as testing of the state hypotheses.
While chapter five deals with the summary, conclusion and recommendations.

Chapter Five

Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations

5.1 Summary

This study was carried out to appraise social media and youth criminality among University of Abuja students, . The findings from the study showed that a significant number of males who are mostly youths between the ages of 18-30years participated in the research. The study also reveals that majority of the respondents are single. The study also discovered that most of the respondents use the internet and the site assessed by most of the respondents are Google search, social media, academic research, emails, entertainment and news. The study further revealed that social media crimes is frequent in tertiary institutions in University of Abuja and mostly perpetrated by youths. It was discovered too that social media crimes can be committed at anytime of the day but cyber-criminals who are involved in piracy will prefer to commit the act at night because the network will be faster. It was revealed that cyber-café and the home are the major points perpetrating of social media crimes. In addition, the study shows that cyber-criminals are nicknamed “yahoo yahoo boys” and “yahoo millionaire” who use the following techniques; password cracker, network sniffers, key loggers, honey pot, man in the middle, mathematical model, number extractors, social network, duplication of website, key recorder, password reviler, SQL injection and phone techniques to commit their illegal act. Similarly, cyber-criminals get their proceeds from domiciliary account, money gram and western union.

Findings from the study indicated that hacking, credit card crimes, software piracy, phishing, social network, pin crimes, theft of identity, trafficking of password and credit card number and stealing of direct TV signal are the most common types of social media crimes that are been perpetrated in University of Abuja.

As to the socio-demographic attributes of cyber-criminals, the study showed that most cybercriminals are between the ages of 18-30yrs, who are mostly male and highly knowledgeable in computer. Similarly, it was discovered that those who indulged in social media crimes could be from any religion and in addition, it was observed that youths from any tertiary institutions in Nigeria and graduates are mostly the perpetrators of this criminal activity. This implies that most of these cyber criminals are educated. From the study, the life styles of cyber-criminals were also identified and it was revealed that cyber-criminals are always on the internet, ride the best automobiles, clubbers and spend money lavishly. Similarly, some of these cyber-criminals indulge the assistance of herbalist/spiritualist to charm their victim.

From the study, it was discovered too that cyber-criminals are motivated by the following factors: excitement to succeed, intellectual pursuit, financial gain, recognition, low rate of conviction, frustration, revenge, display of wealth by corrupt politicians and sabotage. Furthermore, the study found that unemployment, corruption, poverty, peer group influence, easy accessibility to the internet, weak laws and defective socialization are the causes of social media crimes in the study area. The study also found out that there is a significant relationship between social media usage and students’ negative behaviour change. Also, there is a significant relationship between social media crimes and increase in crime rate in Abuja.

Results from the study showed that social media crimes has negative consequences on the society which range from tarnishing the country’s reputation internationally to lack of trust and confidence, denial of innocent Nigerians certain opportunity abroad, loss of employment, loss of life and finally, it drives away investors. However, it was further revealed that despite the negative consequences of social media crimes, it provides a means of survival for cyber-criminals through the sales of pirated software and proceeds they get from other types of social media crimes.

On the solution to social media crimes, it was discovered that the crime cannot be totally eradicated but it is possible to check if the following solutions can be followed; youth are empowered by creating jobs; enlighten young ones about the consequences of such act under the law; government regular engagement with IT industries to develop strategies to curtail social media crimes; zero tolerance to corruption, arrest and immediate prosecution; everybody in the society should be able to report to the law enforcement agencies anyone suspected to be cyber-criminal; our ethical standards are redefined from wealth at all cost to other cherished values; and finally, introducing the topic in the curriculum of secondary school students.

5.2 Conclusion

The remarkable development in human history through computer technology has no doubt brought about transformation in all aspects of life, especially in communication and information technology. Nevertheless, the embracement of the internet has come with a lot of mixed feelings despite its numerous advantages to the people. Social media crimes is the use of computer/internet as an instrument to further illegal ends such as committing hacking, credit card crimes, phishing, pornography, software piracy and theft of intellectual property, stealing identities, unauthorized access, cloning of website amongst others.

It can be inferred from the findings that in Nigeria, people are valued in terms of what they possess and command economically. Conversely, those without economic success are undervalued and the pressure to achieve success is intensified despite the harsh economic condition such as unemployment amongst others. This necessitated the ability of individuals to devise survival strategies and attain economic success by indulging in social media crimes. However, the increasing rates of cybercrime in the society has become a strong threat to Nigeria’s e-commerce growth and has led to ill-reputation internationally and consequently denied some innocent Nigerians certain opportunities abroad. The perpetrators of social media crimes are not far-fetched; they are our brothers, friends, colleague, distant relatives and neighbours who can be tamed under appropriate circumstances with the right and positive communication, orientation, education and empowerment.

5.3 Recommendations

The recommendations for this research are proffered based on the major findings on the study.

The recommendations are as follows:

Youths should be empowered through the creation of jobs.
The study has identified youths within the ages of 18-30years to be the most frequent perpetrators of social media crimes and in addition, the study has also discovered that these youths are either misguided or misdirected by peers, celebration of unknown wealth amongst others. The study therefore recommends that the young ones should be enlightenment on the consequences of social media crimes.
Government should continue to cooperate with IT industries to develop adequate strategy to fight social media crimes.
There should be zero tolerance to corruption at all levels.
Cyber-criminals arrested should be prosecuted immediately to deter a would-be-offender.
The findings showed that cyber-criminals live in the society, as such; prevention of cybercrime requires the co-operation of all the citizens and not just the law enforcement agencies. It is therefore, recommended that everyone should watch and report to law enforcement agencies anyone who indulges in social media crimes.
Finally, the study shows that youths involved in social media crimes are either in tertiary institutions or have graduated from tertiary institutions; the study therefore, recommends that curriculum which will include courses on social media crimes, cyber-management and its prevention should be introduced at both tertiary and secondary schools to take care of the present social changes.