Social Media Misuse in Ghana: Ethical Implications and Its Influence on National Values

The study explored the ethical implications of social media misuse and its negative repercussions on national values, aiming at sanitizing and identifying pathways to reclaim digital spaces for constructive, educative, and culturally enriching purposes. A survey research design under a quantitative approach was employed for the study. Questionnaires were created using google forms, and distributed to participants through platforms such as whatsapp, telegram, and emails, ensuring broad reach across Ghana. The targeted participants were active social media users who have monetized and/or explored platforms like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and Telegram for education, news, entertainment, and businesses. However, anonymity, confidentiality, and voluntary participation were assured to encourage transparent and honest feedback. Convenient sampling and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 300 participants from a total of 1400 respondents with the help of Krejcie & Morgan’s (1970) Sample Size Determination Table. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the data with the help of IBM’s Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS version, 26). The study’s findings revealed that social media use in Ghana often focuses on negative news, the spread of misinformation and disinformation, abusive language, and the promotion of sexual immorality (‘hookup culture,’ a form of commercial sex trading on social media). Moreover, discussions on family issues, secrets, and sensitive information are prevalent. Some bloggers, content creators, and journalists prioritise sensationalism over accuracy and factual reporting. The study also identified concerns about fake prophecies, fraudulent activities, unverified religious claims, and unethical behaviours driven by the pursuit of trends and fame. It was found that social media misuse has a negative influence on national values, which in turn hinders quality education, social cohesion, ethical standards, national identity, and national progress. Again, the findings revealed that strict measures should be introduced to automatically detect and block the circulation of unethical content, including sexually explicit materials, abusive messages, and destructive and non-educative content. It is therefore recommended that robust regulatory measures be implemented to promote ethical media practices and digital responsibility in Ghana. Furthermore, collaborative efforts among key institutions such as policymakers, National Media Commission, Data Protection Commission, Cybersecurity Authority, Ghana Police Service, telecommunications companies, and other relevant stakeholders should be reinforced to combat online abuse, misinformation, sexually explicit content, cyber fraud, and other forms of exploitation. Likewise, platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and others, which are often exploited for the spread of inappropriate and destructive content, should either be strictly regulated or restricted if necessary. Nonetheless, digital literacy and public education programs should play a significant role in promoting responsible citizenship and fostering the effective and ethical use of social media.