The alarming rate of spurious news and information of this era cannot be overlooked. It ranges from individual on the social media to mainstream news media. The race of breaking news has become a gird for many people and news media to the extent that they end up breaking the prestige and probity of their followers, listeners or viewers in the process.
Honestly, one wouldn’t believe that there are millions of self-acclaimed internet journalists until one peeps through the wall of facebook – the walls that need not a ladder nor stool to climb- or you scroll through the ground of twitter where babbling of phony and fallacious facts usually cloud the pukka ones. This uncontrollable act has caused information lethargy in the readers or listeners to the extent that they prefer being uninformed to having misinformation.
Fake news should not only be seen from the perspective of fallacies and fabricated stories but also of highly exaggerated media pictures. Sometimes the media usually use horrendous images speaking more than what is being reported. Consequently, this can create fear and panic for the audience and can lead to chaos. The most common place to find this kind of pictures is social media. It is surprising that sometimes we see picture of the Second World War (1945) illustrating the mild event that happened in 2020 on facebook and twitter.
Introspectively, the mind-sets of the brain behind the fake news and information are not to inform the people but to grow their followers, viewers or listeners with conspiracy theory cooked and spiced in their cocoon. They exploit their audience vulnerability and gullibility to boost their fames and statures both economically and socially. Apparently, the outbreak of coronavirus can also be seen as an outburst of spurious news and information that the world has not witnessed before. Every nook and cranny of the internet is wallowing with information without sources. It is very hard to separate news from a rumour.
However, in a bid to curb this malady, different countries have enacted laws. In India, anybody caught with act -especially to escalate coronavirus will be put behind the bars for a year. In South Africa, anybody convicted of fake news against coronavirus will be jailed for six months. China punishes the defaulter with not less than three years and not more than seven years in prison. The offender will either pay $120,000 or be imprisoned for up to six years in Malaysia. At times, the defaulter can bag both depending on the gravity of the crime.Prior to the outbreak of coronavirus, the social media influencers on twitter had erroneously fixed a date for the wedding of President Muhammadu Buhari. The preparation was very high on twitter that it eventually spread to other areas like facebook and the headlines of some desperate and wannabe bloggers and news media looking for names and web visitors. The wedding started and ended on the social media, however.
At first, when lockdown was introduced in the country. There was news that the government wanted to credit the account of BVN holders in the country. The news spread like wildfire until it was debunked by the government. It was surprising to see the publishing houses remove the link from their page and replace it with apologetic message to countrymen and women.
I was perusing the autobiography of the Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state a fortnight ago when something drew my attention. He said that he met a tortoise on his seat years ago and he removed it and sat without any phobia. To his surprise, a journalist of a reputable newspaper reported that he saw tortoise on his seat and he collapsed. He said that the head of his security wanted sue the journalist for libel but he insisted that it was not necessary.
There have been series of fake news, letters and memos on the social media on the resumption of schools. The minister of education had issued disclaimers countless times for the baseless news. Yet, people are launching them like missile into the e-world.
Recently, many hungry bloggers and agents of spurious news on the media had announced the death of a formal governor of Oyo state due to coronavirus. Initially, many people had believed the news which was later debunked.
The effects of fake news
A. It causes panic and anxiety: Human beings are vulnerable in the hands of toxic and unreal information. It raises alarm when there is no need to set one. It displeases the calmness of the society and can lead to social unrest. For instance, when President Buhari was reported to have contracted coronavirus, Nigerians on twitter and facebook demanded that the president prove his existence.B. Public disinterest in the news media: Having consumed too much fallacies, people will get bored and eventually lose the will to consume valid news from the reputable media. This will do more harm than good as much vital information will skip millions of people. If one closes the eyes for the passage of evil ones, the good ones will pass unnoticed.
People like you and I created the problem, definitely, you and I can solve the problem. We can do that by following the simple logic of “If you didn’t see it from a reliable source, heard from a genuine origin, do not create it with your small brain or copy it from a baseless source and share it with your smartphone.”
Also, the government needs to promulgate laws and edicts that will restrict the perpetrators. Anybody caught in the act should be punished so as to serve as deterrence to others.
Lastly, you and I are ambassadors of our names and country; do not defame your name in the name of popularity. Nowadays, social media has become curriculum vitae for many opportunities, how do you want to be viewed depends on what you upload and share. Beware!
Muib Shefiu is an English Language tutor, an educationist, a writer and a post-graduate student of Federal University, Kashere, Gombe state
