One of the emerging trends in the Nigerian social media in recent time is the growing tendency for unscrupulous people to use the social media as a forum for fabricating and spreading rumours and untrue stories ostensibly to smear the image of top government officials, government institutions and some important business concerns.
It is against this rising trend of fake news and rumours that the Federal Government, through its Ministry of Information and Culture, has come out to condemn the actions of the perpetrators of such fake news and rumours and to urge the people to cross check any information they get from the social media to ascertain its veracity and credibility. Government’s action is therefore a step in the right direction, but it needs to go further fishing out the culprits and punishing them.
It is good that the government rose to the occasion by mounting public campaigns against fake news in the social media and its unpleasant consequences for the government, the people and the country
There is no doubting that the growing trend of fake news and rumours has led to attacks on governments, public and private institutions and businesses alike in the social media with no abate. Worse still is that the growing trend of fake news in the social media is an abuse of freedom of expression as guaranteed in the country’s constitution.
Also, the perpetrators of fake news in the social media have, in the process, debased journalism and dealt a big blow to the credibility of the profession. At the same time, unsuspecting readers of fake news in the social media have a misconception that the perpetrators of fake news are genuine journalists. Unfortunately, they are not, as good journalism does not allow for outright maligning of people’s character and image in the name of good journalism. What the perpetrators of fake news are doing amounts to maligning people’s reputation in the public eye which is actionable in the court of law.
It is good that the government rose to the occasion by mounting public campaigns against fake news in the social media and its unpleasant consequences for the government, the people and the country. At many fora, Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, spoke against the bad trend and influence of fake news on gullible Nigerians. The Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation mounted campaigns against the growing incidence of fake news in the social media.
Unwarranted attacks on people whether in print or broadcast or social media is not allowed by law. It is wicked and ill-motivated against the society and against the people and institutions whose integrities and images are attacked by the writers and peddlers of such rumours and unfounded stories.
Unfortunately, the mobile networks used for the spread of such fake news and rumours have not done anything to stop such fake news and rumours. This is bad and unacceptable to the consumers of the wrong information being spread through the mobile networks. At the end of the day, the networks are also culpable as they are responsible for electronically carrying the fake news and rumours in their networks. They can trace the originators of the damaging information being spread on their networks. The mobile networks should therefore be sanctioned for their inaction and for the damages such wrong information are causing to social media content consumers.
Also, the government has a duty to protect people and the society at large from the growing and relentless onslaughts of evil people who spread untrue stories in the social media. Apart from sanctioning the originators of such fake news and peddlers of rumours in the social media, the networks used for spreading such fake news and rumours must be sanctioned too.
The National Communications Commission (NCC) must rise to the occasion by doing something concrete and decisive about it before things go awry for the networks and the perpetrators of fake news in the social media. Precisely, the NCC should compel the mobile networks to put in place comprehensive systems for checking and stopping the use of their networks to spread fake news and unfounded rumours in the country.
The government, the NCC and the networks must work together to unveil those spreading fake news and unfounded and dangerous stories in the social media and bring them to book. It is by being decisively hard on perpetrators of fake news and rumours that the country’s social media can be free from their antics. The time is apt now to make perpetrators of such crimes to face the full force of the law and be severely punished so that they can serve as deterrent to others of
their ilk.
