The study on political microtargeting is fundamental in order to gain insight as to how political actors reach and influence voters in today’s digital age and the overall influence it has on elections. In this second part of the study, the focus region was on Nigeria that held their general elections in 2023. CIPIT contributed to this study by the African Internet Rights Alliance (AIRA) that aimed at determining the extent of political microtargeting in the Nigerian general elections.
The study combined empirical analysis and legal research to examine political microtargeting in Nigeria’s 2023 presidential elections. It analysed paid Facebook advertisements using the platform’s public ad archive to assess targeting practices and complemented this with desktop, doctrinal, and comparative research on Nigeria’s regulatory framework. The findings show that campaign advertisements largely focused on promoting candidates rather than voter mobilisation, that political microtargeting was not widely employed due to the absence of highly specific targeting, and that while Nigeria lacks legislation specifically regulating political microtargeting, existing laws provide partial regulatory coverage.
